BV  3790  .P3  1910 


The  Pastor  his  own 
evangelist 


The  Pastor  His  Own 
Evangelist 


\>y 


The  Pastor  His  Own 
Evangelist 


METHODS,  TEXTS,  SEED  THOUGHTS 
AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


WITF  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN,  D.  D. 


AND  A  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER  ON 

PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL 

BY 

CHARLES  L.  GOODELL,  D.  D. 


F.  M.  BARTON 
CLEVELAND,   OHIO 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
F.  M.  Barton  Company, 


WHY? 

Many  a  pastor  feels  the  urgent  need  of  an  annual 
season  of  special  services  of  an  evangelistic  character. 

The  problem  of  securing  desirable  assistance,  whether 
that  of  an  evangelist,  or  of  ministerial  brethren,  is  often 
diflBcult  of  solution. 

The  busy  minister  who  has  been  in  a  pastorate  for 
some  years  often  shrinks  from  the  special  drain  involved 
in  the  preaching  of  a  score  of  sermons,  on  as  many  con- 
secutive days  of  evangelistic  services,  while  engaged  in 
the  other  arduous  duties  incident  to  services. 

This  volume  is  intended,  not  to  be  a  crutch,  but  rather, 
to  stimulate  the  minister's  own  thinking  by  making 
easily  available,  suggestive  texts,  seed  thoughts  and  fresh 
illustrative  material  for  specific  sermons. 

A  particularly  valuable  feature  of  the  book  is  its  pro- 
vision of  practical,  actually  tested  plans  for  the  details 
of  the  services  the  influence  of  which  it  aims  to  make 
cumulative  by  following  a  natural  order  of  sequence. 


INTRODUCTION 

This  book  presents  to  us  the  ideal  as  regards  evangelistic 
effort.  There  will  always  be  a  place  in  the  Church  for  evangel- 
ists who  are  called  and  equipped  of  God,  and  especially  adapted 
by  training  and  temperament  to  do  a  special  work.  I  have 
always  believed,  and  more  firmly  during  the  past  few  years 
than  ever  before,  that  the  call  to  be  an  evangelist  should  be  as 
distinct  and  clear  as  that  which  one  receives  to  be  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel  or  a  pastor  of  a  Church.  It  ought  to  be  true  that 
every  pastor  would  possess,  in  some  slight  degree  at  least,  the 
gift  to  do  evangelistic  work,  but  even  if  this  be  true,  neverthe- 
less the  fact  remains  as  above  stated,  and  in  my  own  experience 
I  was  as  clearly  called  to  do  the  work  to  which  I  am  now  devot- 
ing my  life,  as  in  the  other  days  I  was  called  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  the  church  of  a  special  congregation.  However,  I 
am  clearly  convinced  that  an  evangelist  cannot  settle  the  prob- 
lems of  a  church,  who  as  an  emergency  man  is  called  to  ren- 
der a  service  which,  when  it  is  needed  at  all,  is  sorely  needed. 
The  only  man  of  all  others  who  can  do  this  work  and  do  it 
well,  and  do  it  continually,  is  the  pastor  himself.  Any  form 
of  general  evangelistic  effort  which  does  not  leave  him  strong- 
er in  the  affection  of  his  people  is  not  worth  while,  and  any 
evangelistic  effort  which  fails  to  make  his  work  easier  when  the 
special  helper  is  gone,  is  not  worthy  of  the  name. 

Each  pastor  should  be  his  own  evangelist;  at  the  same  time, 
he  should  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  assist  his  brother  min- 
isters. This  is  an  ideal  position  to  take  and  the  suggestions 
made  by  the  author  of  this  book  are  practical  and  helpful. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that  a  great  revival  is  possible.  'I  am 
not  unmindful  of  the  dark  clouds  above  us  nor  of  the  dangers 
that  menace  us  and  sometimes  seem  about  to  defeat  us;  but 
with  every  pastor  on  fire  with  the  passion  for  souls  and  a  fair 
proportion  of  the  membership  following  the  leadership  of  such 
a  pastor,  defeat  is  impossible  and  victory  absolutely  sure. 

J.  WILBUR  CHAPMAN, 

New  York  City. 


CONTENTS 

Preparing  for  a  Revival IX 

Service  I 
The  Church's  Obligations  and  Opportunity 1 

Service  II 
The  Vanity  of  a  Worldly  Life 31 

Service  III 
Saved  for  Service 57 

Service  IV 
The  Guilt  and  Power  of  Sin 87 

Service  V 
The  Wages  of  Sin Ill 

Service  VI 
The  Lamb  of  God (137 


Service  VII 
Repentance 167 

Service  VIII 
Influence — Example    195 

Service  IX 
A  Whole  Life  for  Christ 229 


CONTENTS— Continued 

Service  X 
The  Faith  that  Saves 251 

Service  XI 
The  Great  Decision 275 

Service  XII 
Accepting  and  Confessing  Christ 297 

Service  XIII 
God's  Power  to  Save /  31 

Service  XIV 
The  Joy  of  Salvation 35o) 

Service  XV 
The  Call  of  the  Other  World 379 

Service  XVI 
Opportunity!  Responsibility! 407 

Service  XVII 
Manhood  for  Christ 431 

Service  XVIII 
The  Fruits  of  Indecision 459 


Preparing  For  A  Revival 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL 

CHARLES  L.  GOODELL.  D.D. 

A  Prepared  Man. 

It  was  a  prepared  man,  a  prepared  message  and  a  prepared 
church  that  received  and  answered  to  the  first  Pentecost.  It 
is  to  a  consideration  of  this  threefold  preparation  for  the  com- 
ing of  our  Pentecost  that  I  give  myself. 

In  astronomy  it  is  possible  to  predict  to  the  fraction  of  a 
minute  when  a  given  star  will  cross  a  certain  meridian.  God 
is  a  matchless  timekeeper  and  there  are  few  things  that  more 
stir  the  soul  than  to  set  one's  transit-instrument  according 
to  reckonings  made  years  before  and  on  the  tick  of  the  clock 
to  see  a  star  world  sweep  into  the  field  of  vision,  fulfilling  to  a 
second  its  appointed  time  and  place.  In  spiritual  astronomy 
we  are  not  able,  alas,  to  make  such  certain  calculations.  An- 
other Pentecost  is  long  overdue  but  it  has  not  come.  There 
are  many  watchers  who  are  crying  "Watchman,  what  of  the 
night?"  It  is  not  so  dark  as  it  was,  but  it  is  true  for  the  full 
sunrise. 

Why  are  not  nations  being  born  in  a  day?  Why  are  not 
Pentecosts  falling  in  every  land?  There  is  only  one  answer. 
Men  are  not  yet  ready.  There  is  no  resting  place  for  the 
divine  afflatus.  This  is  the  reason  why  pastors  and  people  are 
not  mitred  with  celestial  fire.  A  hundred  ships  are  sailing  on  the 
great  deep,  and  their  voyagers  long  in  vain  for  news  from  home. 
Neither  wind  nor  wave  give  answer  to  their  cry.  But  yonder 
is  a  steamer  where  every  hour  there  are  messages  from  the 
shore.  For  those  who  voyage  thus  the  throbbing  air  is  vocal 
with  messages  of  love.  The  sea  is  no  longer  silent  and  shore- 
less. A  little  instrument  on  board  is  keyed  to  the  same  pitch 
as  another  on  the  distant  shore,  and  whether  there  be  sunlight 
or  storm  the  harmony  holds  and  the  messages  come.  Why  are 
the  heavens  dumb?  Is  there  no  wireless  telegraphy  in  the 
upper  air?  Alas,  we  are  out  of  harmony.  There  are  messages 
enough  from  God  if  only  we  could  hear,  to  make  this  old 
world  vocal  with  celestial  joys.  The  call  is  for  preparation. 
Let  us  get  into  tune  with  the  infinite.     God  wants  to  talk  with 


X  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

us,  and  the  only  thing  that  breaks  the  connection  is  a  non- 
conducting soul.  God  does  not  whisper  his  secrets  to  those 
who  are  out  of  tune  with  him. 

I  have  been  saying  for  some  time  that  the  church  can  have 
its  belated  Pentecost  whenever  it  is  ready  to  pay  the  price,  and 
the  answers  which  come  to  me  from  the  scores  of  churches 
where  the  power  has  fallen  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of 
this  statement. 

The  message  of  the  hour  is  the  old  message,  "Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord."  It  goes  without  saying  that  this  prepara- 
tion must  first  begin  in  the  ministry  of  the  Christian  church. 

I  am  no  accuser  of  my  brethren.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
there  are  not  thousands  of  pastors  today  as  faithful  and  devoted 
as  any  who  worshiped  in  the  catacombs  or  wore  togas  of 
fiame  to  light  up  Nero's  palace  garden.  But  there  are  many 
of  us  who  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  things  we  know,  to  the 
end  that  we  may  double  our  faith  and  diligence. 

No  one  is  prepared  for  the  great  work  of  winning  men  until 
he  is  mastered  by  a  few  great  principles.  He  must  first  believe 
tremendously  in  the  great  verities  of  the  Christian  life,  and 
that  he  has  a  commission  fresh  from  the  court  of  heaven  to 
declare  them.  If  he  is  doubtful  of  the  temper  of  the  sword  of 
the  spirit. — which  is  the  word  of  God — he  will  do  no  great  exe- 
cution with  it.  I  do  not  mean  by  that  that  he  cannot  critically 
examine  it;  but  I  do  mean  to  say  that  the  question  of  where  it 
was  forged  and  in  what  shop ;  who  etched  its  inscriptions  and 
wrought  its  scabbard,  has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the 
quality  of  its  steel ;  that  must  be  settled  in  actual  battle.  Some 
of  us  have  tried  it  thus  and  have  found  out  by  the  test  of 
experience  that  it  is  a  Damascus  blade,  keen  enough  to  clip  an 
egg-shell  and  stout  enough  to  "carve  the  casques  of  men." 
The  time  spent  in  the  criticism  of  the  form  of  things  is  out  of 
all  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  results  gained.  Of  this  much 
we  may  assure  ourselves,  "The  Christian  church  is  forever 
committed  to  the  supernatural  view  of  religion  and  the  Bible. 
It  is  the  spinal  column  of  Christianity."  There  is  room  for 
great  diflference  of  opinion  as  to  non-essentials,  but  if  a  man 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL  XI 

does  not  hold  to  this  great  fact  he  is  not  prepared  to  fight  God's 
battle.  Infidelity  will  knock  his  sword  into  the  air  and  smite 
him  to  the  earth. 

We  must  believe  that  we  are  God's  men  and  that  we  can  be 
used  by  him — poor  and  ignorant  and  wicked  and  weak  as  we 
are  by  nature — if  only  we  will  surrender  ourselves  to  the  full 
tides  of  his  purpose.  He  has  taken  peasants  and  fishermen, 
miners  and  tinkers,  liars  and  libertines,  transformed  them  by 
his  grace  and  made  them  mighty;  and  he  can  do  the  same  by 
us.  We  must  also  have  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumphs  of  his 
kingdom,  whose  advent  we  preach,  and  be  certain  that  no 
individual  case  is  beyond  his  power. 

We  must  have  a  very  clear  conception  of  the  lost  condition 
of  men  out  of  Christ  and  the  passion  which  consumed  our 
Lord  must  fairly  master  us.  So  long  as  we  can  be  comforted 
and  content  with  good  salaries  and  social  enjoyment,  and  men 
sweeping  by  unto  death,  we  have  no  right  to  call  ourselves 
followers  of  Jesus.  We  are  only  hirelings  and  the  sheep  are 
not  ours.  I  have  elsewhere  written  at  length  of  the  yearning 
soul.  I  must  only  say  here  that  no  man  is  worth  much  for 
God  or  men  who  has  not  come  to  the  place  where  he  cries 
from  his  Gethsemane,  "Give  me,  or  I  die!"  Our  word  "bless" 
is  derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  word  for  blood.  That  deri- 
vation is  true  to  fact,  for  it  is  only  the  heart  that  bleeds  that 
can  really  bless.  So  far  as  I  know  the  road  to  every  victory, 
both  for  one's  self  and  for  others,  lies  through  Gethsemane  and 
over  Calvary.  "When  Zion  travaileth  she  shall  bring  forth." 
May  God  lay  upon  us  all  a  warrant  of  soul  for  those  who  are 
being  lost! 

Thy  hands  are  twain;  by  one  with  pain 
Seize  fast  some  lofty  crag; 
By  ofte  then  clasp  some  brother's  grasp 
Who  else  may  downward  drag! 
Thy  hands  are  twain  for  self  in  vain! 
Thy  hands  despair  shall  grip  but  air. 
If  both  dare  clutch  the  sky 
And  let  a  brother  die. 


XII  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

I  have  thus  indicated  tne  general  line  in  which  our  prepara- 
tion should  lie.  Let  me  now  briefly  call  attention  to  methods 
which  have  been  greatly  blessed  by  God  in  the  preparation  of 
my  own  soul  to  teach  and  win  the  hearts  of  men. 

We  are  all  of  us  conscious  of  a  need  which  we  call  in  general 
terms  "the  endowment  of  power;"  or,  tracing  that  power  to 
its  source,  we  say  "we  must  have  the  Holy  Ghost  with  his 
anointing."  But  the  true  question  comes,  "How  shall  we 
gain  this  great  chrism  of  the  Holy  Spirit?"  First  of  all  we 
must  find  it  as  Jesus  found  it,  and  as  the  company  in  the  upper 
room  found  it,  waiting  before  God  in  prayer.  After  that  busy 
day  at  Capernaum,  Jesus,  "rising  up  a  great  while  before  day, 
departed  into  a  solitary  place,  and  there  prayed."  In  the  day 
of  his  transfiguration  it  is  recorded,  "As  he  prayed,  the  fashion 
of  his  countenance  was  altered."  The  great  effect  of  prayer  is 
not  in  things  received ;  it  is  in  an  altered  "countenance."  While 
I  do  not  wish  to  belittle  intercessory  prayer,  for  the  Bible  has 
much  of  it  and  more  things  are  wrought  by  it  than  this  poor 
world  realizes,  it  is  still  true  that  most  of  the  Savior's  praying 
was  not  of  that  kind.  It  will  be  a  great  day  for  God's  work- 
men when  they  go  to  prayer  with  a  burning  thirst  to  adore 
God  and  to  commune  with  him.  In  that  kind  of  praying  faith 
will  grow,  and  a  yearning  soul  will  send  every  man  to  heroic 
toil. 
"Speak  to  him  thou,  for  he  hears,  and  Spirit  with  Spirit  can 

meet — 
Closer  is  he  than  breathing,  and  nearer  than  hands  and  feet." 

In  such  exercise  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  will  come  if 
we  are  careful  to  wait  and  listen  until  God  talks  back.  Let  us 
do  more  praying.  Something  will  happen  when  we  each  can 
say, 

"Yea,  I  will  be  found 
Dead  at  the  threshold  of  thy  mercy, 
With  the  ring  of  thy  door  in  my  hand." 

Next  to  prayer  I  put  the  study  of  the  word  of  God  as  of 
prime  necessity.  T  do  not  mean  now  the  critical  study  nor 
entirely  the  devotional  study  of  the  word.  I  mean  such  a  stud)'' 
as  shall  reveal  the  great  motif  of  the  Bible — man  lost,  a  Sav- 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL  XIII 

ior  found.  For  the  lack  of  a  better  term  I  call  it  the  evangel- 
istic study  of  God's  word.  I  try  to  catch  the  zeal  of  Moses,  of 
Caleb  and  of  Joshua.  I  seek  to  have  a  love  for  men  as  intense 
as  the  love  of  the  old  prophets  for  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house 
of  Israel.  An  English  preacher  has  said  that  however  many 
Isaiahs  there  may  be  he  is  glad  there  is  but  one  Jeremiah.  I 
presume  he  means  that  a  smiling  prophet  is  better  than  a  weep- 
ing one,  and  that  one  set  of  Jeremiahs  is  enough.  But  I  am 
not  so  sure  about  that.  It  might  happen  that  a  multiplication 
of  prophets  whose  yearning  heart  was  crying,  "Oh  that  my 
head  were  water,  and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I 
might  weep  day  and  night  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my 
people,"  might  multiply  the  number  of  those  who  would  return 
unto  the  God  of  mercy.  When  we  pass  into  the  New  Testa- 
ment we  are  face  to  face  with  him  who  "had  a  passion  for 
saving  the  lost,"  and  whose  followers  we  profess  to  be.  He  is 
a  son  of  solitude,  of  sacrifice  and  of  tears,  and  says  that  if  any 
man  would  follow  after  him  he  must  deny  himself  and  walk  in 
the  path  of  pain.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  can  refuse  after 
such  reading  to  pay  the  price  of  evangelistic  service. 

I  shall  name  one  other  method  of  preparation  that  is  mar- 
velously  stimulating.  When  you  have  finished  Arthur's 
"Tongue  of  Fire,"  read  the  lives  of  the  saints.  In  these  days 
of  calculating  materialism  we  need  a  touch  of  the  heroic. 
There  is  good  need  of  it,  "For  the  bravest  of  men  will  find 
stern  work  to  do,  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  at  hand."  The  his- 
tory of  the  Christian  church  assures  us  that  there  has  been  "a 
joy  in  dungeons  and  on  scafifolds  passing  the  joy  of  harvest." 
Some  of  the  martyrs  went  home  on  a  short,  rough  road  and 
others  journeyed  long  with  bleeding  feet,  but  all  affirmed  that 
Jesus  went  with  them.  Read  the  story  of  the  first  century  of 
Christian  martyrs ;  read  of  Savonarola  and  of  Luther ;  of  Knox . 
and  the  men  of  the  covenant;  read  how  Wesley  and  White- 
field  went  among  the  miners  in  Cornwall,  the  colliers  in  Kings- 
wood,  the  drunkards  and  harlots  of  Drury  Lane  until  they 
were  fairly  "out  of  breath  pursuing  souls."  If  anything  more 
is  needed  to  fire  the  soul,  read  of  Brainerd,  Paton,  Finney, 
Taylor  and  Moody. 


XIV  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Are  we  prepared?  God  and  men  have  done  for  us  all  that 
can  be  done.  Here  is  the  commission.  Let  us  execute  it,  "I 
have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  min- 
ister and  a  witness." 

A  Prepared  Message. 

Our  subject  opens  up  the  whole  question  of  effective  evan- 
gelistic preaching.  "Fine  form  in  fit  action"  is  a  good  defini- 
tion of  preaching  as  an  art,  but  the  preaching  which  amounts 
to  an  incarnation  is  of  another  sort.  Preaching  is  not  an  end, — 
it  is  a  means  to  an  end.  Hence  the  object  bulks  larger  than  the 
subject.  The  value  of  a  sermon  is  not  in  its  form  but  in  its 
effect.  What  is  a  great  speech?  Ask  the  Athenians  and  they 
will  tell  you  it  is  the  speech  which  makes  every  citizen  take  up 
arms  against  Philip  of  Macedon;  ask  the  colonists  and  they 
will  tell  you  it  is  the  speech  which  makes  every  man  resolve, 
"Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death ;"  ask  the  man  on  trial  for 
his  life,  and  he  will  tell  you  it  is  the  speech  which  makes  him 
a  free  man.  If  you  ask,  "What  is  a  great  sermon?"  you  have 
already  the  key  to  the  answer.  The  sermon  which  leads  a 
man  to  forsake  his  sins,  to  give  up  his  indifference,  to  take  up 
the  work  of  a  holy  life, — that,  by  every  standard  of  holy  judg- 
ment, is  a  great  sermon,  no  matter  what  the  critics  may  say 
about  it. 

The  prerequisite  for  all  successful  preaching  is  conviction. 
A  man  may  not  have  many  articles  in  his  creed,  but  he  needs 
to  have  a  few  concerning  which  he  has  no  doubt  whatever.  If 
one  believes  tremendously  in  these  articles  of  religion, — man 
a  sinner,  Christ  a  Savior,  the  present  the  only  safe  time  for 
reconciliation, — he  will  not  be  likely  to  go  far  wrong  on  the 
other  thirty-six  articles.  It  is  the  man  of  conviction  who  begets 
conviction.  The  trouble  with  much  of  the  criticism  and  specu- 
lation of  our  ministry  is  that  it  develops  a  temper  of  mind 
which  unfits  a  man  to  preach  any  truth  with  great  power.  It 
cuts  the  nerve  of  all  religious  zeal.  The  weapon  of  scepticism 
is  not  the  stiletto  but  the  sandbag.  It  confuses,  benumbs  and 
deadens.  People  miss  the  note  of  courage  and  conviction 
which  once  swelled  from  the  pulpit  like  a  holy  symphony,  and 
they  stand  shivering  about  altars  whose  fires  have  gone  out.   It 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL  XV 

is  cold  comfort  for  the  man  who  goes  to  church  with  his  heart 
oppressed  by  doubt  and  unbelief,  to  have  his  burden  augment- 
ed at  the  preacher's  hand  by  the  latest  rationalistic  speculation. 
The  preacher  is  a  prophet,  but  if  he  has  no  message,  he  has 
no  function.  He  is  a  seer,  but  if  he  does  not  see  he  is  an 
impertinence  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.  The  men  of  vision 
move  the  world.  The  critics  of  the  forms  of  things  bring  out 
their  microscopes  and  scalpels,  but  that  is  nothing  new  under 
the  sun  and  stars.  The  planets  watched  their  ancestors  in  the 
days  of  Moses  and  Jeremiah,  and  said,  "Whither  so  fast,  little 
men?"  and  God  took  care  of  the  prophets.  Let  us  be  wise  in 
our  day.  Sin  and  pain  and  heartache  have  not  gone  out  of 
fashion,  and  the  remedy  that  the  ages  have  tested  is  still  the 
only  safe  one.  If  you  look  carefully  enough,  you  will  see  that 
the  world's  gaze  is  fastened  on  a  hill  and  a  cross. 
"That  cross  like  a  far-seen  beacon  stands 

In  the  midst  of  a  world  of  sin, 
And  stretched  out  are  his  bleeding  hands 
To  gather  the  wanderers  in." 

If  the  spell  of  that  cross  is  on  you,  you  will  not  lack  for 
power. 

Our  next  concern  is  the  form  of  the  message.  In  evangel- 
istic preaching  the  simplicity  of  the  form  has  much  to  do  with 
the  force  of  the  sermon.  The  thought  should  be  direct  and 
forceful,  and  the  words  such  as  befit  the  thought.  I  heard  a 
great  lawyer  plead  for  the  life  of  his  client  and  I  marked  the 
words  he  used.  Every  man  in  the  jury  box  knew  their  mean- 
ing. Not  a  single  word  or  reference  diverted  their  attention 
from  the  great  matter  in  hand.  The  speaker  felt  that  it  was 
life  or  death  that  day,  and  the  dread  alternative  lay  in  the 
venture  of  his  speech.  When  a  preacher  obtrudes  his  person- 
ality by  calling  attention  to  his  achievements  and  abilities,  he 
dooms  his  cause.  He  is  not  speaking  as  a  critic  nor  as  a  liter- 
ateur.  He  is  only  a  voice.  He  must  sink  himself  out  of  sight. 
The  value  of  his,  message  is  not  in  the  human  element  but  in 
the  divine.  It  is  his  duty  to  give  it  a  fitting  form,  but  he  must 
never  obscure  the  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  which  is  the  basis  of 
his  message  to  dying  men.     Many  of  the  brightest  preachers 


XVI  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

of  our  time  are  recasting  the  iorm  of  their  message.  These 
men  are  liberal  enough  and  literary  enough  not  to  be  classed 
with  literalists  and  fanatics.  I  have  seen  them  come  down 
from  the  most  famous  pulpits  of  our  metropolis  and  walk 
down  Fifth  avenue  and  Broadway  with  thousands  of  the  com- 
mon people  with  them,  and  then  when  they  reached  our  great 
squares  they  mounted  dry  goods  boxes  and  preached  Christ  in 
a  language  which  laborers  and  loafers  could  understand.  In 
many  places  the  most  cultivated  men  are  renouncing  the 
scholarly  ease  of  one  essay  a  week  and  are  feeling  a  thrill  of 
holy  joy  in  preaching  from  the  tail  of  a  cart  or  the  curb  of  the 
street  to  the  sinning  and  the  poor  the  gospel  which  the  Mas- 
ter preached  to  the  same  class  of  people,  and  with  the  same 
simplicity. 

An  evangelistic  sermon  ought  to  be  interesting.  It  is  not 
enough  to  have  it  orthodox.  There  ought  to  be  something 
about  it  that  will  stir  the  interest  of  the  listeners,  otherwise 
it  will  have  little  effect.  One  reason  why  so  few  of  the  un- 
converted go  to  evangelistic  or  regular  services  is  that  there  is 
so  little  that  interests  them.  That  could  never  be  charged 
against  Whitefield  or  Beecher  or  Moody.  An  unexpected  turn 
of  a  sentence  will  arouse  the  careless  and  indifferent.  Sus- 
tained pathos  or  pleading  or  even  eloquence  wearies.  Let  us 
study  how  to  interest  men  that  we  may  thereby  win  them. 

Again,  ours  is  a  direct  and  eager  age.  It  asks  for  much  in 
little.  It  is  the  age  of  small  books,  of  short  addresses,  of 
thirty-minute  sermons, — "with  a  leaning  to  the  side  of  mercy." 
Many  an  evangelistic  sermon  is  too  long.  It  dissipates  the 
interest  which  it  aroused.  It  is  a  wise  preacher  who  knows 
when  to  stop.  Let  us  talk  as  if  we  meant  it.  Let  us  use  our 
words  like  sunbeams, — condense  them  until  they  burn.  When 
wise  methods  are  aflame  with  love  and  zeal,  men  are  likely  to 
listen  and  come  again. 

Of  even  greater  importance  than  the  form  is  the  substance 
of  our  message.  To  the  question  "V^hat  shall  I  preach?"  the 
answer  comes,  "The  preaching  that  I  bid  thee."  If  a  preacher 
in  his  personal  preparation  will  follow  the  suggestions  I  have 
made,  he  will  be  likely  to  have  a  message  which  is  his  own, 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL  XVII 

borne  in  upon  his  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  general  terms 
we  are  to  preach  Christ  and  him  crucified,  but  that  is  a  very 
broad  theme.  You  may  speak  of  suns  and  planets,  but  they 
are  the  work  of  his  fingers.  All  moral  law  is  from  him,  and  all 
ethical  maxims  are  embodied  in  him,  who  is  the  way,  the  truth 
and  the  life.  Nor  is  the  cross  a  narrow  theme,  for  there  cen- 
ters humanity  and  divinity,  brotherhood  and  love,  sacrifice  and 
redemption.  To  press  the  matter  a  little  further,  we  must  cen- 
ter our  preaching  on  Jesus  Christ,  our  example  and  our  Sav- 
ior. All  theories  of  the  atonement  aside,  the  great  fact  of  the 
need  of  an  atonement  will  not  down.  His  is  the  magic  name. 
All  our  hopes  center  in  his  life  and  death  and  resurrection. 
These  are  to  be  preached,  not  as  a  matter  of  argument  but  as 
a  matter  of  experience.  Important  as  the  theory  of  the  virgin 
birth  may  be, 

"Were  Christ  ten  times  in  Bethlehem  born 
And  not  in  me,  my  case  were  still  forlorn." 
"Sayest  thou  this  thing  of  thyself,  or  did  others  tell  it  thee 
of  me?"  is  the  challenge  which  Jesus  gives  to  every  believer. 
A  series  of  revival  sermons  should  not  be  a  course  of  apolo- 
getics. If  we  happen  to  know  one  man  of  sceptical  tendencies, 
it  is  folly  to  preach  especially  for  him  and  disregard  the  needs 
of  hundreds  of  people  who  are  not  sceptics.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  our  experience  with  the  sceptical  and  critical  has  shown 
us  that  nothing  so  moves  them  as  actual  experiences  in  the 
lives  of  common  people.  For  them  a  testimony  is  better  than 
an  argument,  and  a  fresh  miracle  in  the  transformation  of  a 
wicked  life  will  bring  conviction  to  a  wavering  heart.  There 
is  doubtless  need  for  instruction,  and  the  teaching  function  of 
the  pulpit  must  not  be  forgotten.  But  after  all  what  we  need 
is  not  so  much  more  light  as  more  sight.  People  need  to  be 
urged  to  do  the  things  they  know  to  be  duty.  It  is  the  will, 
and  not  simply  the  intellect  or  the  emotion  that  we  must  reach. 
Give  us  the  appeal  to  conscience.  Give  us  the  blind  man's 
creed,  "This  I  know  that  whereas  I  was  blind  I  now  see." 
Apply  the  gospel,  and  the  gospel  will  do  the  rest.  It  has  vin- 
dicated its  claims  by  actual  test  among  all  classes  of  men  for 
two  millenniums. 


XVIII  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

It  remains  to  add  a  word  about  the  delivery  and  application 
of  the  message.  You  must  have  an  evangelistic  heart  if  you  are 
to  preach  the  evangel  and  preach  it  with  a  soul  on  fire.  If  you 
are  not  moved,  no  one  else  will  be.  The  sermon  must  lead  up 
to  immediate  decision.  It  must  reach  a  climax  and  stop,  and 
there  must  be  grip  enough  in  it  to  reach  and  hold  men.  Izaac 
Walton  says,  "It  is  a  great  matter  to  take  a  trout  early  in 
your  trial.  It  gives  more  heart."  And  Jowett  adds,  "The  joy 
of  catching  a  soul  is  unspeakable.  When  we  have  got  one  soul, 
we  become  possessed  by  the  passion  for  souls.  Get  one,  and 
you  will  want  a  crowd."  Insist  upon  victory  on  the  spot.  We 
will  hope  that  there  will  be  results  which  do  not  now  appear, 
but  some  results  we  must  have  at  the  present  time.  Agonize 
for  it  until  you  cannot  be  denied.  As  we  bleed  we  bless  and 
when  the  world  sees  the  marks  of  the  nails  in  the  preacher's 
palms  it  will  be  no  longer  faithless  but  believing. 

A  Prepared  Church. 

We  may  say  at  the  outset  that  the  church  fitted  to  lead  the 
new  age  must  have  the  same  preparation  for  which  the  church 
of  the  first  century  waited  in  the  upper  room.  She  may  not 
have  the  gift  of  prophecy  nor  understand  all  mystery  and  all 
knowledge,  but  she  must  have  met  her  risen  Lord  and  found 
her  Pentecost.  The  cup  she  lifts  to  the  parched  lips  of  the 
world  may  have  a  modern  form,  but  it  must  still  contain  the 
water  of  life,  which  alone  is  able  to  satisfy  a  thirsty  soul. 

I  will  not  assail  the  church,  for  she  is  the  Lamb's  bride,  and 
weak  and  wicked  as  she  has  been  at  times,  still,  in  any  age, 
she  has  been  the  best  thing  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  a 
comfort  to  note  that  her  reformations  have  come  from  the 
inside  and  not  from  without.  In  spite  of  all  her  defections 
there  has  yet  been  a  remnant  that  has  not  bowed  the  knee  to 
Baal,  and  that  remnant  has  been  the  saving  power  in  the 
church  and  hence  in  the  world.  But  it  still  remains  true  that 
the  average  church  member  is  not  a  phenomenal  success  either 
subjectively  or  aggressively,  and  until  the  average  church  mem- 
ber gets  a  new  vision  and  quickens  his  pace  in  the  march  of 
conquest  the  average  church  will  be  the  dull  and  lifeless  thing 
pver  which  the  angels  mourn.    There  is  much  in  the  New  Tes- 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL  XIX 

tament  that  is  likely  to  disturb  any  self-satisfied  and  compla- 
cent slumberer  if  he  really  gives  himself  to  meditation  upon  it. 
There  are  things  written  there  which  make  it  quite  certain 
that  he  who  has  had  many  chances  but  has  refused  them  all 
will  come  at  length  to  the  end  of  his  opportunity.  There  will 
be  a  fixedness  of  character  which  is  final.  The  unrighteous 
will  do  his  unrighteousness  still  and  the  filthy  will  make  him- 
self still  more  filthy.  Of  the  tree  which  has  long  appropriated 
soil  and  nourishment  to  no  purpose  it  will  be  said,  "Cut  it 
down;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground?" 

Of  the  unprofitable  servant  the  sentence  will  be,  "Cast  him 
into  the  outer  darkness."  There  are  late  comers  at  the  wed- 
ding feast  who  will  find  the  door  shut.  They  forgot  about 
their  lamps  and  were  more  concerned  about  their  own  affairs 
than  about  the  coming  of  the  bridegroom.  And  who  are  those 
people  who  stand  outside  and  vainly  knock?  Are  they  of  the 
rabble  and  did  they  hoot  at  the  bridegroom  and  stone  the 
wedding  procession?  Oh,  no!  These  are  the  bridesmaids. 
They  were  supposed  to  be  the  personal  friends  of  the  bridal 
couple.  They  are  well-known  and  well-dressed  and  well-be- 
haved. They  are  not  ignorant,  ill-bred  or  wicked;  they  are,  so 
to  speak,  members  of  the  church,  but  they  are  on  the  wrong 
side  of  the  door  and  the  door  is  shut.  Does  that  mean  that 
the  gate  of  heaven  will  one  day  be  shut  and  some  will  be  out- 
side the  gate  and  vainly  seek  to  enter?  I  fear  it  does.  And 
who  will  be  found  in  that  company?  Bad  people,  of  course. 
One  would  expect  that  the  jails  and  the  slums  would  make  up 
that  company,  but  it  is  a  fearsome  thing  to  be  told  by  the 
only  One  who  knows  anything  about  it  that  pulpit  and  pews 
will  make  a  heavy  contribution  to  that  number;  that  people 
who  have  hired  sittings  and  dressed  well  and  observed  the 
proprieties  will  be  told  by  him  whose  name  they  bear,  "I  nev- 
er knew  you."  It  seems  to  me  that  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
by  way  of  preparing  the  church  for  its  work  is  to  stir  up  the 
average  church  member  to  a  realizing  sense  of  his  critical 
position,  and  a  good  text  would  be,  "He  that  hath  ears  to  hear 
let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 


XX  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

I  hasten  to  say,  however-,  that  in  the  work  of  preparing  the 
church  for  the  high  duties,  imitation  is  better  than  denuncia- 
tion.    Never  despair  of  any  church  or  any  community. 

"Take  heart!  no  Waster  builds  again — 

A  charmed  life  old  Goodness  hath; 
The  tares  may  perish,  but  the  grain 

Is  not  for  death. 
God  works  in  all  things ;  all  obey 

His  first  propulsion  from  the  night. 
Wake  thou  and  watch ! — the  world  is  gray 

With  morning  light." 

In  nature  a  single  day  will  break  the  drouth  of  a  summer; 
the  wilted  lily  will  lift  up  a  full  chalice,  the  dry  brooks  run 
full-banked  to  the  sea  and  the  fields  will  change  from  russet 
to  green.  Who  could  have  supposed  on  the  morning  when 
Paul  rode  forth  breathing  threatenings  against  the  church  that 
before  the  sun  had  passed  the  zenith  he  would  become  the 
most  zealous  advocate  of  the  cause  he  had  defamed.  It  seems 
a  far  cr}'-  from  Zaccheus  the  publican,  climbing  the  tree  to  sate 
his  curiosity,  to  Zaccheus,  God's  almoner,  but  the  change  took 
place  somewhere  between  the  limb  and  the  ground.  Now,  as 
in  Jonah's  day,  a  great  city  may  repent  in  less  time  than  it 
takes  to  clean  its  streets.  Pray  a  cloud  no  bigger  than  a  man's 
hand  out  of  the  sea  of  God's  grace  and  there  will  come  out  of 
it  enough  to  break  a  drouth  of  years  and  deluge  all  Israel. 

The  next  step  in  the  preparation  of  the  church  is  the  realiz- 
ing sense  that  it  has  a  mission  in  the  world.  The  field  of 
operation  is  not  finally  the  church,  it  is  the  world.  "Ye  are  the 
light  of  the  world,"  is  the  solemn  injunction,  "Ye  are  the  salt 
of  the  earth."  Now  salt  is  good  for  nothing  so  long  as  it  is 
kept  by  itself.  Salt  preserves  by  contact.  The  church  will 
save  the  world  in  no  other  way.  Put  the  church  into  relation 
with  the  world's  corruption  and  if  it  has  not  lost  its  savor  it 
will  stop  the  evil.  It  is  the  saltness  of  the  salt  that  counts; 
and  it  is  Christ  in  the  Christian  that  avails.  Once  the  disciples 
undertook  to  help  the  epileptic  and  failed — just  as  so  many 
fail  in  our  time — for  lack  of  faith.     It  is  Christ  in  you  that  will 


PREPARING  FOR  A  REVIVAL  XXI 

win,  and  the  church  may  know  how  much  Christ  it  has  by- 
noting  how  much  the  passion  to  save  the  lost  dominates  its 
life. 

There  are  not  two  kinds  of  religion,  one  for  the  pulpit  and 
another  for  the  pew.  The  form  of  activity  may  vary,  but  one 
Christian  is  under  the  same  constraint  as  any  other,  to  do  the 
full  will  of  God.  The  need  of  the  hour  is  for  consecrated  lay- 
men. The  church  was  inaugurated  by  laymen.  The  men  who 
conquered  the  Roman  empire  for  Christ  and  lit  up  the  Roman 
night  with  their  winding  sheets  of  flame  were  for  the  most 
part  laymen.  The  monks  were  laymen  and  the  church  has  won 
some  of  its  greatest  victories  through  lay  preaching.  The  most 
hopeful  thing  today  is  that  laymen  are  awakening  to  their  op- 
portunity. It  is  the  layman  who  supports  the  church,  who  calls 
the  minister,  and  who  must  stand  by  hirn.  A  few  men  among 
us  have  ventured  into  the  field  that  a  mistaken  notion  had 
reserved  for  the  ministry,  that  of  personal,  individual  work 
for  the  souls  of  men  and  the  delight  of  it  has  fairly  intoxicated 
them.  In  one  case  within  our  observation,  a  Presbyterian 
elder  has  saved — if  not  absolutely  saved — in  his  religious 
experience  has  won  more  than  two  hundred  men  to  Christ  in 
a  few  months.  After  all  there  is  no  preparation  for  a  great 
work  that  is  so  heartening  as  the  winning  of  a  single  soul. 
There  will  be  no  more  trouble  as  to  criticism ;  the  faults  of  the 
church  and  of  the  ministry  will  be  forgotten,  the  apathy  of  the 
community  will  be  gone — all  this  and  more  will  happen  when, 
in  our  sight,  that  transcendent  miracle,  the  birth  of  a  new  life, 
has  taken  place.  Get  any  church  member  to  undertake  this 
work  to  the  extent  of  a  single  convert,  and  you  have  filled  him 
with  a  new  passion.  That  will  do  more  to  make  him  a  power 
for  God  than  a  month  of  sermons  and  special  meetings.  To 
accomplish  this  I  have  used  with  success  a  "win  one"  card, 
which  is  signed  in  duplicate,  the  member  keeping  one  part  to 
which  is  added  the  names  of  those  who  have  actually  been  won 
to  the  church,  and  this  is  handed  to  the  pastor  at  the  end  of 
the  special  period  for  which  the  work  was  undertaken.  The 
card  reads,  "Looking  to  the  Holy  Spirit  for  direction,  I  am 
willing  to  undertake  the  winning  of  at  least  one  soul  to  a  per- 


XXII  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

sonal  choice  of  Christ  and  to  membership  in  his  church."  Fre- 
quent meetings  of  the  signers  are  held  for  conference  as  to 
methods  and  prayers  for  wisdom  and  power,  and  the  reports 
they  give  sound  like  the  report  of  the  seventy  whom  Christ 
sent  out.  There  are  some  things  that  cannot  be  taught  in  the 
schools,  and  the  winning  of  men  to  God  is  one  of  them.  If 
the  way  to  learn  how  to  preach  is  to  preach,  the  way  to  win 
men  is  to  go  at  it.  It  is  a  marvel  to  see  how  God  opens  the 
way  to  any  eager  heart.  It  often  happens  that  the  one  who  is 
sought  is  more  eager  than  the  seeker  and  God,  who  sends  his 
rain  to  fields  that  have  not  asked  for  it,  prepares  in  unexpect- 
ed ways  the  heart  to  which  he  sends  his  messenger.  When 
Peter  and  Cornelius  find  each  other  they  discover  that  God 
was  interested  before  they  met. 

The  final  preparation  of  which  I  wish  to  speak,  and  one  which 
in  some  sense  covers  all  the  rest,  is  to  be  found  in  personal 
contact  with  the  Master.  'T  will  make  you  fishers  of  men,"  is 
his  gracious  promise.  A  casual  observer  bore  witness  to  the 
fact  that  the  disciples  had  been  with  Jesus.  Happy  for  us  if 
we  so  convince  the  world. 

"As  some  rare  perfume  in  a  vase  of  clay, 

Pervades  it  with  a  fragrance  not  its  own. 
So  when  Christ  dwelleth  in  a  mortal  soul 
All  heaven's  own  sweetness  seems  around  it  thrown." 

We  must  catch  this  spirit  and  this  perfume.  The  church 
must  give  itself  to  days  of  toil  and  nights  of  prayer.  It  must 
be  consumed  by  the  same  love  which  sent  him  to  the  cross. 
We  must  "fill  up  that  which  is  behind  in  the  sufferings  of 
Christ."  Daily  dying  for  men,  we  shall  make  real  to  this  world 
the  love  which  stopped  not  at  the  cross.  It  will  matter  little 
what  we  set  down  in  our  creeds.  An  ounce  of  deed  weighs 
more  with  the  world  than  a  ton  of  creed.  The  world  says  the 
church  does  not  believe  its  own  message,  and  on  the  face  of  it 
there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  the  world  is  right.  But  it 
must  be  true  no  longer.  The  church  is  hearing  anew  the  call 
to  service.  It  is  the  Master's  call,  and  it  is  hot  with  haste. 
"Go,  quick,  everywhere!"  and  with  it  comes  the  enheartening 
promise,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  always  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world." 


SERVICE  ONE— Sunday  Morning 
The  Church's  Obligations  and  Opportunity 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  I 

Give  ye  them  to  eat. — Mark  p.-j/. 
I  am  debtor. — Rom.  1:14. 

Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields ;  for  they  are 
white  already  for  the  harvest. — John  4:35. 

The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are 
few ;  pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  he  will  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest. — 
AUtt.  9:s7,  3^' 

I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot. 
Rev.  3:15. 

I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of 
God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice, 
holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reason- 
able service. — Rom.  12:1. 

Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost 
his  savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted?  It  is 
thenceforth  good  for  nothing,  but  to  be  cast  out,  and 
to  be  trodden  under  foot  of  men. — Matt.  3:13. 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city  that  is  set  on 
a  hill  cannot  be  hid.  *  *  *  Let  your  light  so 
shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good 
works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
—Matt.  5:14,  16. 

Am  I  my  brother's  keeper? — Gen.   4:p. 

Why  could  not  we  cast  him  out?  *  *  *  Thfe  kind 
goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting. — Matt.  17: 
19,  21.' 

Would  God  that  all  of  the  Lord's  people  were 
prophets. — Ntim.  ii:ip. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Give  ye  them  to  eat. — Mark  6:37. 

1.  They  need  it;  are  starving  for  it. 

2.  You  have  it;  in  unlimited  supply. 

3.  God  expects  it;  this  is  your  mission. 

4.  There   is  a  rich   reward;  your  own   supply  will   be 

increased  greatly. 

I  am  debtor. — Rom.   1 :14. 

1.  Salvation  implies  obligation;  "freely  ye  have  received, 

freely  give." 

2.  I    owe    God   an   infinite    debt;    "for    his    unspeakable 

gift." 

3.  Ministry  to  man  for  Christ's  sake  is  evidence  of  my 

appreciative    gratitude;    "Inasmuch    as    ye    have 
done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these." 

Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields,  for  they  are  white 
already  to  harvest. — John  4:35. 

1.  Our   blindness   to   nearby   opportunities   for   service; 

"four  months." 

2.  The  duty  of  cultivating  keenness  of  spiritual  vision ; 

"Lift  up  your  eyes." 

3.  What  quickened  vision  will  discern;  "white  fields." 

The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few;  pray 
ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth 
laborers  into  his  harvest. — Matt.  9:37,  38. 

1.  "Bumper  crops." 

2.  A  labor  famine. 

3.  Prayer  as  a  resource. 

4.  Self-answered  prayers. 

I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot. — Rev. 

3:15. 

1.  God  looking  on;  "I   know."    "All   things   are  open 

unto  him." 

2.  A    lukewarm    congregation    seen    through    Christ's 

eyes. 

3.  The  threatened   penalty;   "spue   thee   out." 


4  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

I  beseech  you  therefore;  brethren,  oy  the  mercies  of  God, 
that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service. — Rom.  12:1. 

1.  Consecration  is  a  living  sacrifice  of  self,  not  of  slain 

animals. 

2.  The   controlling   motive,   gratitude;   "the   mercies   of 

God." 

3.  Consecration    reasonable ;    in    accordance    with    the 

laws   of   life,   physical,    mental,   spiritual. 


Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his  savor, 
wherewith  shall  it  be  salted?"— Matt.  5:13. 

1.  Christ    relies    upon    Christian    influence    for    world- 

winning. 

2.  But  the  influence  of  worldly  Christians  is  an  obsta- 

cle. 

3.  Worldly  Christians  will  be  discarded  as  useless. 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  *  *  *  Lg^  your  light  so 
shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and 
glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven. — Matt.  5  :14,  16. 

1.  Lighthouse     Christians;     lighted     to    give     light    to 

save. 

2.  Life's    real    work    is    lamp    trimming    and    reflector 

cleaning. 

3.  The  unseen  lighthouse;  the  light,  not  the  lighthouse, 

seen. 


Am  I  my  brother's  keeper? — Gen.  4:9. 

1.  Everyone    within    my    sphere    of    influence    is    my 

brother. 

2.  I  am  responsible  for  his  welfare. 

3.  Negligence    here    means    condemnation. 

4.  Fidelity  in  service  brings  commendation ;  "Inasmuch 

as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least,"  etc. 


THE    CHURCH'S    OBLIGATIONS  5 

Why  could  not  we  cast  him  out?     *     *     *     This   kind   goeth 
not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting. — Matt.  17:19,  21. 

1.  Abortive  Christian  effort;  failure;   disappointment, 

2.  The  price  of  success ;  living  closer  to  Christ,  prayer, 

detachment  from  the  world. 

3.  The   rich   reward  of   Christlikeness ;    increased   influ- 

ence. 

Would   God   that   all   of   the   Lord's   people   were    prophets..^ — 

Num.   11:29. 

1.  All   Christians  called   to   service;  not  the  duty  of  a 

few. 

2.  Refusal     means     forfeiture     of     privilege ;     spiritual 

dwarfing. 

3.  Fidelit}^   brings  personal   blessing. 

4.  Universal    zeal    on    the    part    of    Christians    would 

mean   speedy  world  conquest, 


SUGGESTIONS 

This  service  should  sound  the  spiritual  keynote  for  the  con- 
gregation, bringing  the  members  into  the  right  attitude  to- 
ward the  services  which  follow. 

Emphasize  the  ideas  of  obligation,  responsibility,  account- 
ability, in  the  church's  relation  to  those  without. 

Make  this  personal — the  individual  Christian's  responsibil- 
ity for  withholding  the  gospel  from  others. 

Seek  to  awaken  a  keen  realization  of  what  failure  to  meet 
Christ's  expectations  in  this  respect  means  with  reference  to 
obstructing  the  progress  of  the  kingdom;  with  reference  to 
the  spiritual  peril  of  others,  and  in  its  bearing  upon  our  own 
forfeiture  of  the  blessings  which  come  with  spiritual  fidelity. 

A  brief  meeting  with  the  Sunday  school  workers  before  the 
school  session  for  the  purpose  of  pressing  home  a  sense  of 
their  responsibility,  will  be  fruitful  in  good  results. 

A  meeting  for  prayer  with  the  officers  of  the  congregation, 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  before  or  after  the  church 
service,  should  be  held. 

Every  legitimate  plan  calculated  to  awaken  and  deepen  the 
church's  sense  of  responsibility  for  others,  should  be  used. 

Let  the  pastor  clearly  grasp  the  fact  that  the  moment  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  church  is  toned  up,  all  the  conditions  for 
a  general  religious  awakening  will  be  present.  There  is  no 
evangelism  like  that  of  Christian  character.  Once  let  the 
church  throw  off  the  spirit  of  selfish  indifference  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  world  and  the  world  will  know  it  and  respond  to 
it.  This  is  equally  true  of  the  Christian  in  the  pulpit  and  the 
Christian  in  the  pew. 


THE  CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  T^ 

As  long  as  you  and  I  are  looking  upon  religion  as  a  series 
of  precepts  which  we  feel  we  ought  to  obey,  the  more  we 
shall  feel  a  reluctance  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it;  when 
it  is  brought  to  us  we  shall  feel  that  it  sheds  rather  a  lurid 
light  across  our  path;  we  shall  fight  against  it.  As  long  as 
that  is  the  case,  you  have  not  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  you  have  not  understood  the  power  of  an  in- 
dissoluble life.  When  we  look  at  what  real  religion  is,  we  see 
it  should  be  a  living  thing.  I  see  it  in  Christ  my  master.  All 
that  he  does  is  simply  the  outcome  of  what  his  very  nature 
is.  The  life  is  within  him  and  he  lives  according  to  it.  It  is 
his  joy  to  do  the  Father's  will.  He  applies  himself  for  the 
well-being  of  mankind.  The  very  virtue  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  lay  in  this,  that  it  is  by  his  will  that  he  offered  him- 
self unto  God,  it  is  the  love  in  it,  the  willingness  in  it.  And 
this  is  what  religion  ought  to  be — a  joy ;  it  ought  to  be  our 
nature;  it  ought  to  be  our  freedom,  a  delight  to  us.  If  we 
say,  "Oh,  some  day  I  shall  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  I  will  bring 
my  life  into  harmony  with  the  Decalogue  and  begin  to  act  in 
the  way  in  which  the  clergymen  say  I  ought  to  act,  according 
to  the  precepts  of  the  Ten  Commandments,"  we  look  through 
dim  glass,  we  do  not  see  the  real  significance  of  faith  and  re- 
ligion. Religion  is  a  life  and  ought  to  work  out  from  you  as 
a  life,  and  therefore  should  be  your  very  nature. — Churchman. 

With  many  Christians  this  apparent  indifference  is  more 
a  habit  into  which  they  have  been  permitted  to  drift,  than  a 
fixed  and  settled  lack  of  interest  in  others.  Numbers  will 
respond  to  the  challenge  to  use  their  opportunities  for  influ- 
encing others  for  Christ  and  his  church,  if  the  challenge  has  a 
ring  in  it. 

The  pasor  cannot  be  too  careful  in  making  personal  prepa- 
ration for  this  service  and  those  to  follow.  Prayer ;  the  read- 
ing of  some  book  like  James'  "An  Earnest  Ministry"  or  some 
more  recent  appeal  for  fidelity  and  zeal ;  heart-searching  read- 
ing of  the  Bible;  a  careful  study  of  local  conditions  and  needs 
— all  these  things  will  help  to  get  him  into  a  proper  spiritual 
frame,  and  this  will  make  its  influence  felt  upon  others. 


8  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Resist  the  temptation  to  think  of  the  services  as  a  mere 
member-getting    campaign.     Exalt    the    soul-winning    thought. 

Make  the  services  for  a  month  or  two  previous  to  the  evan- 
gelistic services  lead  up  to  them.  Refer  to  them  in  announce- 
ments, sermons  and  prayers.  Kindle  expectation.  Help  the 
people  to  get  a  correct  conception  of  the  true  purpose  of  such 
services. 

What  are  the  conditions  necessary  to  secure  the  needed 
revival  of  spiritual  life  and  power?  May  we  not  clearly  discern 
the  answer  in  the  conditions  hitherto  fulfilled  on  the  part  of 
the  people  of  God,  in  all  the  revivals  given  to  the  church, 
whether  previous  or  subsequent  to  Pentecost?  Do  we  not  see 
in  the  history  of  individuals,  as  of  Abraham,  of  Jacob,  of  Moses, 
of  Joshua,  of  Gideon,  of  David,  of  Solomon,  of  Asa,  of  Josiah, 
of  Daniel  and  of  Job ;  or  of  peoples,  as  in  the  days  of  Heze- 
kiah  (2  Chron.  29),  and  of  Nehemiah  (Neh.  8,  9),  at  Pente- 
cost (Acts  2),  and  the  persecution  (Acts  4:23-37  and  13);  or 
in  the  history  of  the  great  spiritual  movements  since  then  to 
the  present  century,  those  great  revivals  which  brought  won- 
drous blessing  to  countless  thousands  in  the  times  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, and  of  the  Puritans,  of  Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys, 
of  McCheyne  and  the  Haldanes,  and  yet  more  recently,  in  the 
memorable  years  of  1859-60,  when  waves  of  spiritual  awaken- 
ing flowed  over  America,  and  reached  Ireland,  and  subsequent- 
ly England  and  Scotland,  the  lasting  effects  of  which  are  still 
traceable  in  work  and  workers  for  God,  then  brought  into  life, 
home  and  abroad — in  all  of  these  do  we  not  see  clearly 
marked,  as  with  a  sunbeam,  the  conditions  which,  on  the 
human  side,  were  fulfilled  ere  the  enlargement  and  revival 
came,  and  may  they  not  briefly  be  summarized  as  follows? 

1.  A  deeply  felt  need  of  the  quickening  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  individual  and  collective  life  of  the  Church. 

2.  The  heart  laid  thoroughly  open  to  the  action  of  the 
Word  of  God  in  its  reproofs  and  calls  to  a  higher  and  holier 
life. 

3.  A  true  spirit  of  self-judgment  and  contrition  for  per- 
sonal  and  collective   sins   and   shortcomings,   with   humiliation 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  9 

and  confession,  and  persevering  prayer  for  renewed  anointing 
and  power  from  on  high. 

4.  The  resolute  putting  away  of  every  known  sin  and  beset- 
ment,  with  whatever  may  be  thought  grieving  to  the  Holy 
Spirit,  by  whom  we  have  been  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemp- 
tion. 

5.  The  more  complete  surrender  of  self. — Words  and  Weapons. 

Let  the  preacher  ever  remember  his  dependence  upon  the 
Holy  Spirit.  "If  the  gospel  of  Christ  be  the  power  of  God, 
what  hinders  that  the  people  to  whom  it  is  sent  are  not  con> 
verted?  It  may  be  that  it  is  too  often  preached  in  word  only; 
or  it  may  be  that  it  is  too  often  buried  in  a  florid  mass  of  human 
words;  it  may  be  that  the  preacher  has  couched  it  in  such 
form  of  speech  that  the  masses  of  people  cannot  clearly  under- 
stand it;  it  may  be  that  it  is  preached  in  such  a  way  that  it  is 
only  a  gospel  that  is  talked  and  preached  about,  and  not  a  gos- 
pel that  is  preached  directly  and  lovingly  to  the  people.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God,  but  there  is 
much  question  whether  we  always  use  this  power  In  a  powerful 
way.  Certainly  we  must  remember  that  it  is  only  powerful 
when  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  great  power  of  God  for  working  in 
and  by  the  gospel,  is  present  in  the  word  and  with  the 
preacher." 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Every  congregation  owes  its  community  the  warmest  kind 
of  spiritual  worship.  A  cold,  dead,  formal  public  worship  is  an 
abomination.  The  services  of  God's  house  should  be  so  fer- 
vent in  spirit,  so  manifestly  the  flow  and  glow  of  hearts  in 
attune  with  God,  as  to  impress  saint  and  sinner  with  the  verity 
of  the  presence  and  fellowship  of  God.  Real  spiritual  worship 
is  the  most  desirable  and  enduring  attraction  of  the  house  of 
God.  And  every  congregation  is  debtor  to  its  community  to 
maintain  such  worship  in  the  Lord's  house. 

Every  congregation  owes  its  community  the  beauty,  strength 
and  aroma  of  vital  godliness  in  the  every-day  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual members  of  the  church.  The  most  potent  and  con- 
vincing argument  of  the  genuineness  and  virtue  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  is  the  Christlikeness  of  the  daily  private  and 
public  life  of  his  followers.  The  world  expects  church  mem- 
bers to  walk  uprightly,  deal  justly,  and  to  keep  themselves 
from  the  defilements  of  sin.  Not  to  meet  this  expectation 
tends  to  bring  reproach  upon  the  cause  of  God. 

Every  church  owes  its  community  the  matchless  influence  of 
family  religion.  The  ideal  Christian  home  is  one  of  the  most 
important  products  and  agencies  of  the  gospel.  The  nation's 
best  safeguard  is  the  Christian  home.  Failure  of  the  church 
to  produce  and  maintain  Christian  homes  would  mean  disaster 
to  herself  and  the  nation.  The  church  is  debtor  to  the  world 
to  preserve  and  emphasize  the  family  altar  and  to  promote 
piety  and  vital  godliness  in  the  home. 

No  amount  of  effort  to  save  the  world  can  make  up  for  fail- 
ure to  sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  your  own  little  world. — 
Henry  F.  Cope. 

The  Gentile  world  was  condemned  for  holding  down  the 
truth.  There  are  orthodox  men  who  hold  the  truth,  not  that 
they  may  use  it,  live  it,  shape  their  wills  by  it;  but  who,  by 
holding  it,  imprison  it ;  hold  it  down ;  make  it  void  in  their  own 
lives, — G.  Campbell  Morgan. 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  11 

We  are  disposed  to  make  out  a  call  for  ourselves.  We  wish 
to  enter  the  service  of  our  Lord,  and  set  about  to  prepare  or 
select  a  field  for  ourselves.  But  the  idea  of  a  call  is  that  we 
accept  the  field  of  God's  selection.  Jesus  said  to  the  men  at 
the  boat,  "Follow  me."  The  right  attitude  of  mind  is  that  of 
waiting  with  expectation  and  readiness  to  obey.  "I  come  to  do 
thy  will,"  is  the  right  response  of  the  soul. 

They  who  thus  place  themselves  at  the  bidding  of  the  Lord 
are  not  left  unthought  of;  he  leads  them,  and  where  he  leads 
it  is  always  safe  to  follow.  Thus  Dr.  Grenfell  was  led,  and  as 
he  follows  he  finds  the  Lord  working  with  him.  Thus  Pro- 
fessor Hale  was  led.  He  was  called  into  the  light  of  the 
glorious  gospel,  and  that  light  revealed  to  him  the  sin  and 
need  of  men.  In  that  there  was  to  him  a  call  to  serve  for  the 
lowest  and  the  downcast.  A  man  of  high  birth,  of  fine  educa- 
tion and  refined  scholarly  culture,  he  gave  himself  to  a  lay 
ministry  to  vagrants  and  drunkards  and  found  in  them  the  field 
for  which  God  prepared  him. 

Paul  heard  the  call  on  the  way  to  Damascus  He  waited  for 
the  guidance  of  him  who  had  said  that  he  would  send  him  to 
the  Gentiles.  He  did  not  seek  a  good  place  for  himself,  but 
waited,  doing  all  the  while  that  which  was  at  his  hand.  He 
was  of  the  strictest  of  the  Tews,  but  he  had  been  reared  among 
the  Gentiles,  and  was  thus  able  to  understand  the  Gentile  mind 
and  how  to  approach  it.  There  God  prepared  him  for  his 
work,  and  then  brought  him  to  Antioch  to  receive  his  final 
instructions.  Entering  upon  his  great  work,  his  attitude  was 
always  that  of  following.  He  heard  the  voice  and  without  ques- 
tioning obeyed.  God  was  with  him.  At  every  critical  point 
there  was  a  vision  or  a  voice,  or  a  hand,  a  something  to  deter- 
mine his  course,  a  fingerboard  to  duty.  When  we  follow  where 
God  leads  we  find  the  meaning  and  the  work  of  life  and  receive 
the  rewards  of  faithful   service. — United  Presbyterian. 

Would  it  not  be  a  palpable  absurdity  for  any  one  to  say, 
"I  do  love  my  brother,  my  friend,  sincerely,"  and  yet  leave  that 
friend  in  his  sin,  liable  at  any  moment  to  pass  away  unsaved, 
without  using  every  means  to  bring  him  to  a  knowledge  of 
his  lost  condition  ?  What  would  any  one  think  of  a  man  who  saw 


12  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

his  friend  asleep  in  a  burning  house,  stupefied  by  the  smoke,  and 
did  not  rouse  him  to  a  sense  of  his  danger  and  help  him  to 
escape?     Or  who  beheld  him  wandering  on  the  brink  of  a  ter- 
rible precipice,  blind  to  his  peril,  and  left  him  to  perish  through 
selfish  fears?    How  frequently  do  we  hear  it  said,  "I  have  often 
wished  to  speak  to   my  friend  about  his  soul,  but  feared  to 
offend  him,"  or,  "I  dread  that  he  would  resent  my  interference 
as  an  unwarranted  intrusion  into  his  private  aflfairs;  a  man's 
mind  is  his  kingdom  and  no  one  has  a  right  to  force  himself 
into  it,"  or,  "When  I  think  of  speaking  to  my  friend  about  his 
soul  my  tongue  literally  cleaves  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  and  I 
am  unable  to  speak  a  word."     In  the  case  of  the  burning  house 
or  the  fearful  precipice,  the  man  might  be  in  danger  of  losing 
his  own  life  in  the  effort  to  save  his  friend,  but  very  few  men 
would  give  utterance  to  such  a  fear;  the  very  thought  that  he 
would  be  branded  as  a  coward  if  he  failed  to  attempt  the  res- 
cue would  move  him  to  deeds  of  daring  which  at  another  time 
it  would  have  seemed  to  him  an  impossibility  that  he  could 
perform.     But   in  the   endeavor  to  help   to  save   a  soul   from 
eternal  death,  no  danger  threatens  him  who  makes  the  effort, 
he   is   on    safe  ground,   safe   forever,   nothing   can   harm  him; 
therefore  he  has  no  excuse  for  not  doing  all  that  God  has  put 
it  in  his  power  to  do,  to  bring  his  friend  out  of  the  awful,  stu- 
pifying  torpor  of  sin,  the  bondage  of  Satan,  into  the  life  and 
liberty  of  those  ransomed  by  the  blood  of  the  Savior. — Selected. 

It  was  the  founder  of  the  London  Polytechnic  who,  upon 
being  asked  what  was  wanted  in  order  to  make  a  successful 
polytechnic,  replied,  "Somebody's  life-blood;"  and  it  was  a 
Congregational  pastor  who,  when  he  left  a  well-to-do  church  in 
London  to  do  work  in  a  poorer  district,  said,  "The  churches 
must  rise  to  the  height  of  that  ideal,  and  give  their  life-blood." 
There  has  never  been  done  a  good  and  lasting  work  on  earth 
that  was  not  done  at  the  cost  of  some  one's  life-blood.— T/itf 
Deaconess  Advocate. 

It  does  not  take  long  to  see  where  the  difficulty  lies  in  most 
movements  looking  toward  a  revival  of  religion.  It  is  with 
these  sinners  in  Zion;  these  formal,  worldly  and  unconverted 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  13 

professors  of  religion.  The  strong  probability  is  that  the  most 
of  them  are  mere  worldlings  in  disguise,  and  the  disguise  is  not 
very  thick.  A  season  of  special  religious  effort  draws  the  line 
and  shows  where  they  stand  and  who  they  are.  They  lie  like 
huge  stones  over  against  the  mouth  of  the  sepulcher  where  the 
dead  sinners  are  buried.  They  need  to  be  rolled  away,  either 
by  conversion,  if  they  are  not  converted,  or  by  exposure  and 
faithful  dealing  if  they  are  backsliders. 

As  for  reaching  the  unchurched  and  non-churchgoing  masses, 
it  cannot  be  done  by  the  church  until  these  are  either 
brought  in  or  removed  from  the  pathway  of  work  that  leads 
out  toward  the  world.  "Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side,"  cried  out 
Moses,  "let  him  come  unto  me."  This  while  he  was  standing 
in  the  gate  of  the  camp.  God  by  this  means  called  for  a  sift- 
ing of  the  true  from  the  false ;  the  pretenders  from  the  real 
children  of  Israel ;  those  who  were  the  dancers  about  the  gold- 
en calf  and  those  who  were  the  true  worshipers  of  Jehovah. 
Again  and  again  this  separation  between  the  precious  and  the 
vile  had  to  be  made  among  those  who  called  themselves  by  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  There  are  always  a  number,  usually  greater 
than  we  suppose,  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal ;  but 
an  occasion  is  needed  to  develop  them  and  bring  them  out  into 
clear  worshipers.  The  first  result  of  a  real  revival  is  to  sift 
the  nominal  church  members  from  the  true  children  of  God 
and  the  lukewarm  and  faint-hearted  from  the  earnest  souls 
who  are  always  ready  to  spring  to  the  battle  or  to  the  work 
at  the  sounding  of  the  trumpet. — George  F.  Pentecost,  D.  D. 

At  a  dinner  of  the  Men's  Club  of  a  large  and  wealthy  New 
York  suburban  church,  a  member  of  the  club  said,  "In  my 
active  life  in  business  I  am,  and  have  been  for  many  years,  in 
close  contact  with  men  who  profess  our  faith  and  men  who  do 
not;  and  speaking  honestly,  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  found 
any  apparent  difference  between  the  moral  standards  of  the 
two  classes ;"  and  in  the  second  of  silence  that  followed,  in 
which  the  condemnation  seemed  to  grip  each  heart,  he  quoted, 
"Brethren,  these  things  ought  not  so  to  be." 

We  owe  much  to  the  past.  No  wise  man  will  scorn  the  past. 
We  are  not  independent  of  the  past.     What  have  we  to  vvhich 


14  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

the  past  has  not  made  a  large  contribution?  We  have  science. 
This  is  called  an  age  of  science,  and  many  speak  of  science  as 
though  it  had  been  born  with  us.  But  science  did  not  spring 
suddenly  out  of  the  ground,  nor  fall  upon  us  from  the  sky,  nor 
leap  full-grown  from  the  fertile  brain  of  a  few  wise  men  of 
our  time.  All  science  has  its  roots  in  the  past.  Before  Europe 
was  civilized,  or  America  was  discovered,  wise  men  in  the 
East  were  working  on  astronomy.  It  has  been  built  up  by 
contributions  of  men  of  all  generations.  The  past  has  con- 
tributed something  to  all  our  science ;  all  art,  all  music,  all 
literature  and  all  our  inventions.  Those  who  lived  before  us 
did  not  bring  things  to  perfection,  and  we  could  not  enjoy  the 
things  we  have  today  without  them.  They  labored  and  we 
have  entered  into  their  labors. 

We  owe  much  to  the  world.  The  world  in  which  we  live 
has  made  large  contributions  to  our  life.  The  earth  yields  its 
increase.  The  air  we  breathe,  the  water  we  drink,  the  salt 
found  in  the  earth  and  sea,  the  minerals  found  in  the  moun- 
tains, are  all  rich  gifts.  The  world  is  full  of  beauty  and  full 
of  lessons  for  the  mind.  It  is  a  vast  volume,  a  great  library, 
an  immense  university,  where  all  may  study  without  money 
and  without  price. 

We  owe  much  to  our  religion.  There  are  many  religions. 
Some  of  them  have  exercised  a  powerful  and  wholesome  influ- 
ence on  millions  of  men.  But  the  Christian  religion  which 
prevails  in  our  land  stands  at  the  head  of  all.  It  makes  the 
best,  the  strongest,  the  noblest  manhood  and  womanhood.  It 
inspires  the  largest  hope  and  the  highest  purpose.  It  affords 
the  grandest  ideals.  It  has  given  us  the  Bible,  the  Word  of 
the  living  God.  It  has  given  us  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Savior  of  the  world.  Many  great  men  have  lived, 
but  he  towers  above  all  in  character,  in  teaching,  in  wisdom, 
in  power,  in  his  influence  over  men. 

God  hath  given  us  himself.  He  is  ours  as  truly  as  our 
parents  are  ours.  He  is  our  Counselor,  our  Guide,  our  Father, 
our  all.  "This  God  is  our  God."  "The  Lord  is  the  portion  of 
his  people."     Verily  we  are  debtors. — Christian  Advocate. 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  IS 

Your  ability  is  the  measure  of  your  responsibility.  "To  whom 
much  is  given,  much  will  be  required."  I  passed  a  home  where 
a  gentleman  was  sprinkling  the  lawn.  His  little  girl,  a  child 
of  about  six  years,  was  helping  papa  as  her  childish  fancy 
prompted.  She  would  bring  her  toy  watering  pot  to  the  father, 
and  he,  reducing  the  force  of  the  stream,  would  fill  it  from 
the  hose. 

It  mattered  little  to  the  grass  and  flowers  whether  the  water 
which  they  needed  was  given  through  the  large  sprinkler 
or  the  child's  toy  watering  pot.  So  it  matters  little  to  the 
world  whether  you  are  a  man  of  one,  two,  five  or  ten  talents, 
so  you  give  it  the  best  you  have.  The  one  talent  man  giving 
his  best  is  better  than  a  ten  talent  man  giving  his  worst.  It 
is  not  how  much  you  give  to  the  world,  but  what  you  give  to 
it.  There  are  a  great  many  more  little  things  to  be  done  than 
big  ones.  Do  not  forget  that  the  things  done  for  ourselves 
will  soon  be  forgotten,  but  the  things  that  are  done  for  Christ 
are  immortal. — New   York  Observer. 

The  fulness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  give  us  an  enthusiasm  for 
soul  winning,  and  also  aid  in  mental  and  spiritual  equipment. 
He  will  prompt  our  words  in  the  moment  of  perplexity,  and 
give  us  courage  to  speak  them  without  fear.  He  will  make  the 
"word  as  fire.... and  the  people  as  wood."  He  will  give  such 
power  in  witnessing  as  will  make  the  world  of  invitation  irre- 
sistible. In  his  later  life.  Bishop  Coke  is  said  to  have  had  a 
dream  in  which  he  thought  himself  standing  at  the  gate  of 
heaven  seeking  admission.  But  the  angel  said,  "Your  work 
is  not  done  on  earth.  You  must  go  back  and  finish  your  work. 
You  cannot  come  in  now."  Coke  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
pass,  but  the  angel  insisted  that  he  must  return  to  earth. 
"Then,"  said  Coke,  "if  I  must  go  back,  let  me  go  back  and 
blaze  until  I  die."  The  baptism  with  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
makes  us  blaze  for  God. — Selected. 

That  saintly  soul.  Captain  Hedley  Vicars,  says,  "Whenever 
I  have  been  brought  nearest  to  my  Savior  even  'into  the 
holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,'  I  have  been  constrained  and 
forced  'while  the  fire  burns'  to  'speak  with  my  tongue'  and  to 
make  use  of  the  golden  hours  of  communion  with  Jesus  in  the 


16  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

solitude  of  my  chamber,  to  publish  when  'I  go  without  the 
camp'  what  the  Lord  has  done  for  my  soul;  even  for  me,  than 
whom  a  man  more  undeserving-  of  mercy  does  not  exist." 

These  are  the  people  who  sit  back  in  their  religious  respect- 
ability and  allow  the  community  to  go  to  the  bad  without  any 
apparent  concern  on  their  part.  They  are  saved  themselves 
and  are  faithful  in  a  way  to  their  obligations  to  the  church, 
but  so  far  as  the  community  is  concerned  that  is  not  a  part  of 
their  business.  They  have  crawled  into  the  ark  of  the  Lord 
and  the  Lord  has  "shut  them  in,"  and  they  do  not  so  much  as 
loek  out  of  the  window  to  see  the  unfortunate  people  who 
are  drowning  in  the  flood. 

How  long,  oh,  how  long,  will  Christian  people  continue  to 
use  the  church  simply  as  an  ark  of  refuge?  Oh,  that  we 
might  think  of  the  church  as  a  great  battleship  for  aggressive 
warfare  against  the  enemy  of  the  soul !  If  there  is  one  "woe" 
that  will  ring  from  the  throne  of  the  Almighty  on  the  great 
day  of  judgment  more  loudly  than  another,  it  will  be,  it  seems 
to  me,  against  the  professing  Christian  who  is  so  easy  in  Zion 
that  he  forgets  his  responsibility  to  the  civic  and  social  de- 
mands of  his  community. — William  R.  King,  D.  D. 

O  you,  the  rising  race  of  America,  of  Britain,  and  of  evan- 
gelical Europe,  you  in  whom,  for  better  or  for  worse,  is  vested 
the  empire  of  the  world ;  make  it  the  empire  of  your  Kin;^: 
Jesus!  The  science  of  the  ages  has  come  with  its  gifts  and 
poured  them  at  your  feet.  Literature,  art,  medicine,  the  phil- 
osophy of  mind  and  nature,  have  enriched  your  souls  and  mul- 
tiplied your  powers  and  thoughts.  The  prizes  of  wealth  and 
power  are  in  your  grasp.  But  what  are  these  compared  with 
wealth  of  souls  and  power  over  nations  being  born  into  new 
life?  Use  these  treasures  right.  Knowledge  has  often  led  men 
astray  from  God;  let  yours  be  brought  a  willing  slave  to  the 
feet  of  him  in  whom  is  all  knowledge.  Wealth  has  often 
deadened  the  soul ;  let  yours  be  a  joyous  offering  at  his  feet, 
who,  though  rich,  became  poor. — W.  T.  A.  Barber,  M.  A. 

Christ  has  all  eternity  to  work  in.  From  all  eternity  he 
had  been  working;  he  neither  began  nor  ended  with  those  three 
busy  years.     But  those  three  years  were  dedicated  to  Israel. 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  17 

He  meant  to  feed  the  Children  of  the  House,  to  win  them  if  it 
were  possible,  and,  as  it  proved  to  be  impossible,  to  choose  out 
of  them  such  as  would  respond  for  the  work  of  the  future.  Of 
course,  he  had  come  to  seek  the  world,  but  he  would  seek 
the  world  through  them,  training  and  preparing  them  for  a 
world's  task.  As  a  great  French  writer  says,  "The  first  rule  of 
the  man  dedicated  to  great  things  is  to  refuse  to  mediocre  men 
the  power  of  turning  him  aside  from  his  course."  Jesus  with  a 
set  task  to  do  will  do  it,  and  not  attempt  what  lies  beyond  it — • 
the  secret  of  all  success  in  work  for  God  or  man. — R.  F.  Horton, 
D.  D. 

Not  long  before  this  Jesus  had  sent  out  his  twelve  disciples 
on  a  special  mission,  and  he  had  expressly  charged  them,  "Go 
not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  and  into  any  city  of  the  Sa- 
maritans enter  ye  not;  but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."  They,  with  his  commission  to  them  still 
fresh  in  their  memories,  feel  that  the  argument  cannot  be  an- 
swered.— Henry   Wacc,  D.  D. 

We  can  well  believe  while  the  rose  is  but  a  bud,  shut  in  be- 
tween hard,  glossy  green  leaves,  gathering  only  the  first  dream 
of  color  into  its  pale  petals,  that  its  own  color  should  seem  the 
purpose  of  its  life,  just  to  be  the  perfect  rose,  for  the  pure 
beauty  of  its  perfectness.  But  when  the  bud  bursts  and  the 
rose  is  born — what  then?  A  world  is  waiting  for  its  fragrance 
and  its  loveliness.  To  serve  that  world,  to  send  the  colorless 
light  interpreted  through  its  soft  hues,  and  the  odorless  atmos- 
phere translated  b}'  its  fragrance  to  be  all  that  it  may  be  for 
the  sake  of  all  that  it  may  do,  this  is  the  larger  purpose  of  its 
being — and  learning  this,  it  ripens  to  the  perfect  being. — Selected. 

The  only  possible  demonstration  of  faith  is  action.  Romans 
is  the  gospel  of  justification  by  faith,  first.  But,  second,  it  is 
the  gospel  of  justification  by  works. 

Take  life  like  a  man.  Take  it  as  though  it  were — as  it  is — 
an  earnest,  vital,  essential  affair.  Take  it  just  as  though  you 
were  born  to  the  task  of  performing  a  merry  part  in  it — as 
though  the  world  had  waited  your  coming.  Take  it  as  though 
it  were  a  grand  opportunity  to  achieve,   to  carry   forward  great 


18  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

and  good  schemes,  to  hold  and  to  cheer  a  suffering,  weary,  it 
may  be  broken-hearted,  brother. — Charles  H.   Spurge  on. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  we  so  easily  forget  the  teachings  of 
the  Bible  is  because  we   do  not  put  them   into  practice.     Dr. 
James  S.  Gale  tells  of  a  Korean  who  learned  the  whole  of  the 
/        Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  then  walked  a  hundred  miles  in  or- 
X  der  to  recite  it  to  his  pastor.     When  he  had  finished,  he  was 

told  that  he  must  practice  the  teaching.  He  replied,  "That  is 
the  way  I  learned  it.  I  tried  to  memorize  it,  but  it  would  not 
stick,  so  I  hit  on  this  plan :  I  would  memorize  a  verse  and  then 
find  a  heathen  neighbor  of  mine  and  practice  it  on  him.  Then 
I  found  it  would  stick."  All  of  us  would  know  much  more 
Scripture  than  we  know  and  the  knowledge  would  be  of 
far  greater  value  to  the  world  if  we  would  follow  the  Korean's 
method  of  making  it  stick. — Selected. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Waiting  to  be  Won. 

He  was  a  cold,  selfish  man.  There  was  sarcasm  in  his  voice  and 
a  sneer  upon  his  lips.  He  was  called  a  skeptic.  Most  of  his 
neighbors  belonged  to  the  church.  He  was  hard  and  grasping  in 
his  dealings. 

"The  most  overbearing  man  I  have  ever  seen,"  said  one  neigh- 
bor. "He'd  skin  a  flea  for  its  hide,"  said  number  two.  "A  feller 
might  freeze  on  his  dborstep  and  he'd  never  open  the  door,"  added 
a  third. 

For  twenty  years  he  had  lived  among  them,  growing  richer  all 
the  time.  They  called  him  "Old  Skinflint,"  or  "Pinchbeck,"  and 
shunned  him  whenever  possible. 

A  new  minister  came  to  the  country  church,  one  very  much  in 
earnest  about  saving  souls.  As  he  went  about  in  his  quiet,  unob- 
trusive way  doing  good,  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  persuad- 
ing some  one  to  turn  from  his  evil  way. 

One  evening  as  he  stood  talking  with  some  of  the  brethren 
about  the  work,  he  remarked,  "I  am  going  over  to  talk  with 
Mr.  Harrington  tomorrow." 

"He's  sure  to  insult  you,"  said  one. 

"It  will  do  no  good.  He's  a  hardened  infidel,"  said'  another. 

He  went.  Harrington  was  sitting  on  the  south  porch  reading, 
as  the  minister  came  up.  The  pastor  introduced  himself,  and 
oflfered  his  hand.  The  other  shook  hands  with  him  and  oflFered  a 
chair. 

"I  am  a  minister.  I  came  to  talk  with  you,  if  you  have  no 
objection." 

Harrington  looked  at  him  strangely  for  a  moment.  There  was 
simplicity  and  candor  in  his  face,  as  well  as  in  his  words.  There 
was  no  arrogance  visible — only  brotherly  love. 

"Very  well,  sir.  I  have  no  objection,"  Harrington  said  frankly. 

For  hours  they  talked  as  man  to  man  on  the  highest  of  all 
themes,  the  welfare  of  a  man's  soul.  At  last  they  went  in,  and 
bowed  together  while  the  minister  prayed.  When  they  arose  Har- 
rington held  out  his  hand.  "For  twenty  years  I've  longed  to  talk 


20  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

with  somebody  about  religion  and  m,y  soul,  but  they  all  shunned 
me  and  I  was  too  foolishly  proud  to  go  to  them.  You  can  hardly 
know  how  I  have  longed  for  human  fellowship  and  sympathy,  but 
my  selfishness  has  kept  me  and  my  fellowman  apart — I  never  knew 
how  it  was  until  now — ^but  the  message  you  have  brought  me 
makes  it  clear — I  must  love  my  neighbor  as  myself — and  I  will." 

You  Can  Not  Get  In  Alone. 
A  priest  had  a  striking  dream.  He  dreamed  he  had  ascend'ed 
the  ladder  that  reached  from  earth  to  heaven.  Expectantly  he 
knocked  upon  the  door.  Some  one  responded  and  demanded, 
"Who  is  there?"  Proudly  the  priest  called  his  name.  "Who  is 
with  you?"  came  the  reply.  "No  one,"  answered  the  priest;  "I 
am  alone."  "Sorry,"  said  the  angel,  "but  we  are  instructed  never 
to  open  these  gates  for  a  single  individhial,"  And  crestfallen  and 
disappointed  he  descended  to  earth. — Sunday  School  Times. 

Who  is  Doing  Your  Work? 

In  all  the  world  there  is  nothing  so  wonderful  as  "God's  way 
with  a  soul."  This,  the  actual  experience  of  one  woman,  may  have 
its  message  for  others : 

She  had  had  a  beautiful  girlhood,  rich  in  all  that  love  and  wealth 
could  give.  Then  trouble  came  and  everything  was  swept  away 
from  her — ^parents,  husband,  children  and  wealth.  In  her  anguish 
she  prayed  passionately  for  death ;  death  alone  was  refused  her. 

Her  brothers  took  her  abroad,  hoping  so  to  lift  her  from  her 
grief,  but  though  several  years  passed,  she  still  prayed  for 
death.  Then  one  night  she  had  a  dream.  She  thought  she  had 
gone  to  heaven  and  saw  her  husband  coming  toward  her.  She  ran 
to  him  full  of  joy.  To  her  terror,  no  answering  joy  shone  on  his 
face,  only  surprise  and  almost  indignation. 

"How  dlid  you  come  here?"  he  asked.  "They  didn't  say  that 
you  were  to  be  sent  for ;  I  did  not  expect  you  for  a  long  time." 

"But  aren't  you  glad?"  she  cried. 

But  again  he  only  answered,  as  before,  "How  did  you  come?  I 
didn't  expect  you,"  and  there  was  no  gladness  in  his  tone  or  eyes. 

With  a  bitter  cry  she  turned  from  him. 

"I'll  go  to  my  parents,"  she  faltered.  "They,  at  least,  will  wel- 
come me."  So  she  went  on  until  she  found  her  parents ;  but 
instead  of  the  tender  love  for  which  her  heart  was  sick,  she  met 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  21 

only  the  same  cold  looks  of  amazement,  the  same  astonished  ques- 
tions.   Faint  and  heartbroken,  she  turned  from  them,  too, 

"I'll  go  to  my  Savior,"  she  cried.  "He  loves  me,  if  no  one  else 
does." 

Then,  in  her  dream,  she  reached  the  Savior.  She  w^as  right — 
there  was  no  coldness  there;  but  through  his  love  the  sorrow  of 
his  voice  thrilled  her  into  wondering  silence.  "Child,  child,  who  is 
doing  your  work  down  there?"    Then,  at  last,  she  understood. 

When  she  awoke  in  the  morning,  with  the  memory  of  her 
dream  strong  upon  her  heart,  it  was  to  find  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth.  She  had  no  children  of  her  own,  but  God's  little  ones, 
struggling  under  burdens  that  bent  childish  backs  and  brought 
pitiful  lines  of  care  into  childish  faces,  were  all  about  her.  Down 
in  the  heart  of  the  city  she  found  her  work — and  her  God. 

The  Hungry,  Pleading  World. 

The  world,  although  often  it  fails  correctly  to  diagnose  its  case, 
is  famishing  for  the  truth  which  the  gospel  proclaims.  Its  cry 
reminds  us  of  the  Russian  "Exile  Song:" 

"For  the  sake  of  Christ 

Have  pity  on  us,  O  our  fathers! 

Do  not  forget  the   unwilling  travelers. 

Do   not   forget   the   long-imprisoned. 

Feed  us,  O  our  fathers,  help  us. 

Feed  us,  help   the  poor  and  needy." 

Withholding  the  Gospel. 

A  gentleman  who  had  been  a  sufferer  for  many  years  was  told 
of  a  physician  who  was  very  successful  in  the  treatment  of  his 
trouble,  and  when  going  to  him  for  his  treatment  was  instantly 
relieved,  and  finally  cured.  As  this  physician  belonged  to  a  new 
school  of  medicine,  which  was  looked  upon  in  some  quarters  with 
much  disfavor,  the  man  said  nothing  about  the  physician  who  had 
cured  him.  He  had  a  friend  who  suffered  with  the  same 
trouble  but  even  to  him  said  nothing  about  the  physician  by 
whom  he  had  himself  been  cured. 

A  year  passed  and  his  friend  grew  worse.   Finally  the  gentle- 
man decided  to  tell  his  friend  about  the  physician.     His  friend 
went  to  him  immedbtely  and  was  finally  cured.     Then  the  man' 
told  his  friend  how  he  had  known  about  this  physician  for  more 


22  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

than  a  year,  but  hesitated  to  recommend  him  because  he  belonged 
to  a  new  school  of  medicine.  To  this  his  friend  replied,  "Why 
didn't  you  tell  me  sooner?  I've  lost  a  whole  year."  Lx)st  a  whole 
year  because  he  did  not  know  about  the  physician. 

How  many  a  year  is  lost  to  millions  who  are  sin  sick,  because 
they  are  not  told  of  the  Great  Physician!  And  the  blame  lies 
largely  with  those  who  claim  to  have  been  cured  themselves.  "Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." — 
The  Homiletic  Review. 

The  Real  Race. 

The  Rev.  G.  Campbell  Morgan  is  reported  as  having  entered,  in 
a  sermon  not  long  ago,  an  emphatic  protest  against  the  common 
interpretation  that  the  race  Christians  are  called  upon  to  run  is  a 
race  in  order  that  they  may  win  heaven.  "Here  was  one  reason 
why  the  churches  were  half  empty ;  they  had  been  so  long  acting 
as  if  Christianity  were  a  kind  of  fire  insurance,  which  took  individ- 
ual men  and  made  them  safe  so  that  they  might  never  reach  hell, 
but  might  reach  heaven,  and*that  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  run  as 
hard  as  they  could  to  get  out  of  the  world  into  heaven.  That  was 
a  false  interpretation  of  Christianity.  The  race  we  are  called  to 
run  is  not  a  race  in  order  to  win  heaven,  but  in  order  that  God 
might  win  earth." 

Fleeting  Opportunity. 

Returning  on  one  occasion  from  a  journey  to  the  south  of  Scot- 
land, Dr.  Chalmers  visited  a  nobleman  near  Peebles.  On 
a  favorite  theme — pauperism  and  its  cure — he  kept  the  circle 
of  friends  gathered  there  entranced,  especially  an  old  High- 
land laird,  who  was  riveted  by  the  lucid  details  that  he  gave. 
They  sat  late.  Dr.  Chalmers'  bedroom  was  just  across  the  lobby 
from  the  old  laird's  room.  As  the  doctor  was  undressing  he  heard 
a  strange  sound  thence  and  then  a  deep  groan.  He  hastened  in. 
In  a  few  minutes  more  all  the  visitors  followed.  The  old  man 
drew  but  a  few  breaths  more  and  died.  Dr.  Chalmers  loved  souls. 
He  gazed  with  outstretched  hands  as  he  bent  over  the  clay.  He 
was  the  picture  of  distress;  the  first  to  break  the  silence.  "Never 
in  my  life  did  I  see  or  did  I  feel  before  this  moment  the  meaning 
of  that  text,  'Preach  the  word;  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season.*  Had  I  known  that  my  venerable  friend  was  within  a  few 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  23 

minutes  of  eternity  I  would  have  addressed  myself  earnestly  to 
him.  I  would  have  preached  unto  him  and  unto  you  Jesus  Qirist 
and  him  crucified.  I  would  have  urged  him  and  you,  with  all 
earnestness  befitting  the  subject,  to  prepare  for  eternity.  You 
would  have  thought  it,  and  you  would  have  pronounced  it,  out  of 
season.  But  ah,  it  would  have  been  in  season,  both  as  it  respects 
him  and  as  it  respects  you."  Fidelity  to  the  Master  demands  the 
discharge  of  duty  in  all  relations,  and  especially  in  this. 

"Shall  Not  Return  Unto  Him  Void." 

We  are  in  danger  of  underestimating  the  influence  of  words 
spoken  for  Christ.  As  illustrating  the  saving  power  of  Spurgeon's 
earnest  words,  even  when  met  with  on  some  stray  paper  or  leaflet, 
an  incident  is  given  below  which  is  vouched  for  by  the  Rev.  F.  B. 
Meyer,  who  says: 

"I  was  asked  to  go  to  a  public  house  in  Nottingham,  to  see 
the  landlord's  wife,  who  was  dying.  I  found  her  rejoicing  in 
Christ  as  her  Savior.  I  asked  her  how  she  found  the  Lord. 
'Reading  that,'  she  replied,  handing  me  a  torn  piece  of  paper. 

"I  looked  at  it,  and  found  that  it  was  part  of  an  American  news- 
paper, containing  an  extract  from  one  of  Spurgeon's  sermons, 
which  extract  had  been  the  means  of  her  conversion. 

"  'Where  did  you  find  this  newspaper,'  I  asked. 

"She  answered,  'It  was  wrapped  around  a  parcel  sent  to  me 
from  Australia.' 

"Talk  about  the  hidden  life  of  a  good  seed !  Think  of  that !  A 
sermon  preached  in  London,  conveyed!  to  America,  then  to  Aus- 
tralia, part  of  it  torn  off  for  the  parcel  dispatched  to  England,  and 
after  all  its  wanderings  giving  the  message  of  salvation  to  that 
woman's  soul !    God's  word  shall  not  return  unto  him  void." 

In  Due  Time. 
"Do  you  know  that  I  sat  under  your  preaching  for  six  weeks, 
day  and  night,  when  you  were  in  Detroit  eight  years  ago,  but  I 
did  not  become  a  Christian  until  two  years  ago?  The  foundations 
of  my  unbelief  were  knocked  away  during  that  meeting, 
and  I  never  had  any  more  peace  in  my  sin.  I  thought  you  would 
be  glad  to  know  it.  I  owe  my  salvation  to  you."  Thus  spoke  an 
entire  stranger  to  us  the  other  day  in  a  distant  city.  Yes,  we  were 
glad  to  know  it,  for  it  encourages  us  all  to  know  that  the  Word  of 


/ 


24  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

the  Lord  is  not  vainly  pfeached,  even  when  there  is  not  the 
appearance  of  power  with  it.  After  many  days  it  appears  in  the 
conversion  of  souls.  "Let  us  not  be  weary  in  well  doing;  for 
in  due  season  we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not." 

The  Undelivered  Message. 
"I  sent  my  love  to  you  every  day!"  said  a  little  girl  indignantly 
to  a  sick  friend  who  was  beginning  to  be  convalescent,  and  felt 
hurt  because  no  word  of  remembrance  had  come  to  her.  "They 
just  took  it  and  kept  it  all  theirselves."  The  childish  way  of  look- 
ing at  it  sets  in  strong  light  the  meaning  of  an  undelivered  mes- 
sage. Christ  sends  his  love  to  men  with  each  returning  day — 
sends  it  by  us.  Do  we  deliver  it?  Or  do  we  take  it  and'  keep  it 
all  ourselves?  What  does  he  think  of  us  as  messengers? — The 
Christian  Endeavor  World. 

Work  and  Pray. 

Prayer  is  absolutely  essential  to  success  in  Christ's  kingdom. 
But  all  prayer  and  no  work  is  as  bad  for  Christians  as  "all  work 
and  no  play"  for  boys.  Devotion  accompanied  by  neglect  once  lost 
Gibraltar.  This  is  the  story:  In  the  month  of  August,  1704, 
while  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  was  raging,  a  combined 
British  and  Dutch  fleet  appeared  before  Gibraltar  with  a  force  of 
five  thousand  soldiers.  For  several  days  they  bombarded  the  place, 
spending  much  powder  to  very  little  purpose,  for  the  natural 
advantages  of  the  fortress  were  so  great  that  the  little  garrison  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  set  them  at  defiance. 

At  last  saint's  day  arrived,  and  all  the  Spanish  soldiers  went  to 
church  to  pray  against  the  heretic  besiegers.  But  they  had  not 
reckoned  upon  the  climbing  powers  of  British  sailors,  a  party  of 
whom  ascended  the  rock  at  a  very  dlifiicult  place,  which  would  have 
been  absolutely  inaccessible  had  the  Spaniards  been  on  the  alert. 
The  pious  garrison  came  out  from  their  prayers  to  find  their  fort- 
ress in  the  hands  of  the  English,  who  have  kept  it  ever  since. 

No  "Hopeless  Cases." 
In  the  same  Tennessee  town,  at  different  times,  I  knew  of  two 
men  who  were  considered  "hopeless  cases."  One  of  them  arose  in 
a  meeting  one  night  saying,  "I  am  a  devil,  and  there's  no  hope  for 
me;  yet  I  believe  in  the  power  of  prayer."  He  tried  to  leave  the 
church  as  he  said  this,  but  a  good  woman  led  him  to  the  altar  and 


THE  CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  25 

some  four  or  five  of  his  closest  friends  began  praying  for  him. 
They  prayed  for  two  hours  or  more.  Finally  a  light  broke  upon 
the  young  man's  face  and  he  cried  aloud  with  the  joy  of  salvation. 
The  other  man,  the  son  of  a  good  elder  who  had  shortly  before 
gone  to  glory,  had  ceased  going  to  church.  One  day  a  man  said, 
"Will  three  of  you  join  me  in  prayer  for  this  man?"  The  coven- 
ant was  made.  The  prayers  began.  The  man  came  to  church  for 
a  short  time  the  next  night.  Prayer  was  continued.  On  the  third 
day  he  invited  the  evangelist  to  his  store  for  a  service,  and  there 
he  was  saved.  That  night  he,  his  wife  and  all  his  children  were 
received  into  the  church,  and  they  are  living  for  God  today. 

When  a  meeting  is  conducted  without  prayer,  that  meeting  is  a 
failure.  We  have  gone  for  days  in  our  meetings  without  any 
apparent  results.  As  soon  as  the  people  prayed,  the  power  fell. — 
The  Cumberland  Presbyterian. 

A  "Strong"  Congregation. 

"Is  it  a  strong  congregation?"  asked  a  man,  respecting  a  body 
of  worshipers. 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply. 

"How  many  members  are  there?" 

"Seventy-six." 

"Seventy-six !    Are  they  so  very  wealthy?" 

"No;  they  are  poor." 

"How,  then,  do  you  say  it  is  a  strong  church?" 

"Because,"  said  the  gentleman,  "they  are  earnest,  devoted',  at 
peace,  loving  each  other,  and  striving  to  do  the  Master's  work. 
Such  a  congregation  is  strong,  whether  composed  of  five  or  five 
hundred  members." 

They  Never  Talk  About  It. 

A  Hindu  of  rank  was  troubled  in  his  conscience  on  the  subject 
of  a  future  state.  He  had  heard  of  Christians,  and  longed  to  con- 
verse with  them  about  their  religion,  and  to  know  who  Christ  was. 
So  he  visited  England,  the  Christian's  land,  supplied  with  intro- 
ductions to  some  leading  people.  Being  asked  to  a  great  dinner, 
he  turned  to  his  neighbor  in  the  course  of  conversation,  and  said, 
"Can  you  tell  me  something  about  Christ,  the  founder  of  your  re- 
ligion?" "Hush,"  replied  his  new  acquaintance,  "we  do  not  speak 
of  such  things  at  dinner-parties."  Subsequently,  he  was  invited  to 
a  large  ball.     Dancing  with  a  young  and  fashionable  lady,  he  took 

f 


26  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

an  opportunity  of  asking  Her  who  the  founder  of  her  religion, 
Jesus  Christ,  was.  And  again  he  was  warned  that  a  ball  was  no 
place  to  introduce  such  subjects.  "Strange,"  thought  the  Hindu 
"are  these  Christians  in  England.  They  will  not  speak  of  their 
religion,  nor  inform  me  about  Christ,  its  founder." — The  Sunday 
School  Times. 

"Bring  Him  Unto  Me." 

A  lady  who  was  in  great  distress  on  account  of  a  wild  and  way- 
ward brother  went  one  Sunday  morning  to  her  accustomed  seat  in 
the  house  of  God.  So  burdened  was  she  that  she  felt  herself  to 
be  in  no  condition  to  be  profited  by  the  services  of  the  sanctuary. 
A  visiting  minister  occupied  the  pulpit  that  day,  and  was  reading 
the  ninth  chapter  of  Mark.  While  he  read  on  with  feeling  and 
expression  the  wonderful  word's,  this  Christian  woman  became  deep- 
ly interested,  and  for  the  time  forgot  her  sorrow.  When  the  nine- 
teenth verse  was  reached  the  minister  read  with  emphasis  the  di- 
rection of  the  Master,  "Bring  him  unto  me."  These  last  words 
came  with  strange  power  and  comfort  to  the  sad  and  burdened 
heart.  Nothing  is  remembered  by  her  of  the  remaining  services. 
A  message  had  already  come  to  her  from  God.  The  Holy  Spirit 
had  sent  the  words,  "Bring  him  unto  me,"  home  with  power  to  her 
soul,  and  she  was  enabled  then  and  there  to  cast  her  burdens  on 
the  Lord  as  never  before.  In  prayer  and  faith  she  carried  her  err- 
ing loved  one  to  the  compassionate  Savior,  who  is  as  accessible 
and  ready  to  help  now  as  when  he  walked  the  earth  nineteen  cen- 
turies ago.  The  load  was  lifted,  and  this  trusting  child  of  God, 
sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  was  assured  that  in  some  way  or  other 
all  would  be  well.  She  went  away  from  the  place  of  prayer  no 
longer  with  bowed  head,  but  with  a  calm,  sweet  confidence  that 
God  had  heard  her  prayer,  and  would  grant  her  petition.  She  had 
heard  the  voice  of  Jesus ;  she  had  gone  to  him.  She  had  carried 
her  brother  to  him.  She  was  permitted  to  see  an  answer  to  her 
prayer,  and  had  the  unspeakable  joy  of  knowing  that  her  precious 
one  had  confessed  Christ  as  his  Redeemer.  He  has  passed  away, 
but  she  rejoices  in  the  blessed  confidence  that  he  is  forever  with 
the  Lord. 

"Be  Still  and  Know." 

How  can  God  give  us  visions  when  life  is  hurrying  at  a  precipi- 
tate rate?     I  have  stood  in  the  National  Gallery  and  seen  people 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  27 

gallop  round  the  chamber  and  glance  at  Turner's  picture  in  the 
space  of  five  minutes.  Surely  we  might  say  to  such  trippers,  "Be 
still,  and  know  Turner !"  Gaze  quietly  at  one  little  bit  of  cloud  or 
at  one  branch  or  at  one  wave  of  the  sea  or  at  one  ray  of  the  drift- 
ing moon.  "Be  still,  and  know  Turner."  But  God  has  difficulty 
in  getting  us  still.  That  is  perhaps  why  he  has  sometimes 
employed  the  ministry  of  dreams.  Men  have  had  "visions  in  the 
night."  In  the  daytime  I  have  a  divine  visitor  in  the  shape  of 
some  worthy  thought  or  noble  impulse  or  hallowed  suggestion,  but 
I  am  in  such  feverish  haste  that  I  do  not  heed  it  and  pass  along. 
I  do  not  "turn  aside  to  see  this  great  thing,"  and  so  I  lose  the 
heavenly  vision.  If  I  would  know  more  of  God,  I  must  relax  the 
strain  and  moderate  the  pace.     I  must  "be  still." — J.  H.  Jowett. 

Good  Enough  for  a  White   Man. 

A  young  Indian  convert  once  brought  Bishop  Whipple  a  two- 
dollar  bill  which  he  requested  him  to  change,  that  he  might  give 
half  to  the  Lord's  work,  and  his  wife  give  the  other  half.  "Is  thfs 
all  the  money  you  have?"  asked  the  bishop.  The  man  replied  that 
it  was.  The  bishop  was  about  to  remonstrate  and  advise  him  to 
give  a  part  of  it,  when  another  saved  Indian  whispered  in  his  ear, 
"It  might  be  too  much  for  a  white  man  to  give,  but  not  too  much 
for  a  poor  Indian,  who  has  this  year  for  the  first  time  heard  of  his 
Savior."  What  a  rebuke  this  is  to  the  luke-warm  Christians  who 
live  on  the  fatness  of  the  good  land  God  has  given  them,  and  seem 
to  feel  no  responsibility  to  give  of  their  abundance  to  the  work  of 
carrying  the  gospel  to  others ! 

Inexcusable  Neglect. 
A  business  man  on  his  way  to  prayer-meeting  saw  a  stranger 
looking  wistfully  into  the  open  window  of  the  church,  and,  moved 
by  a  strong  impulse,  he  invited  him  to  go  in  with  him.  The 
stranger  consented,  and  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  Christian  life  for 
him  and  his  family.  He  afterward  said  to  the  friend  who  invited 
him  to  the  prayer-meeting,  "Do  you  know  that  I  had  lived  in 
this  city  seven  years  before  I  met  you,  and  no  one  had  ever  asked 
me  to  go  to  church?  I  had  not  been  here  three  days  before  the 
groceryman  and  the  dairyman  and  the  politicians  had  hunted  me 
up,  yet  in  all  these  seven  years  you  were  the  first  man  that  had 
ever  expressed  an  interest  in  my  soul." — The  Free  Baptist  Record. 


28  THE    PASTOR   HIS   OWN    EVANGELIST 

The  Vision  of  a  World  Opportunity. 

About  the  time  that  the  San  Francisco  earthquake  disaster  had 
run  its  course,  a  Chicago  daily  paper  presented  a  suggestive  pic- 
ture on  the  front  page.  The  center  of  the  picture  represented  the 
smouldering  ruins  of  the  wasted  city.  The  great  business  build- 
ings and  the  beautiful  homes,  along  with  the  wealth  they  repre- 
sented, were  marked  by  unsightly  piles  of  brick  and  stone.  Some 
buildings  were  standing,  but  with  cracked  walls  and  tottering  tow- 
ers. The  highways  were  blocked  with  dbbris.  Water  mains,  gas 
mains,  sewers,  lighting  plants  and  trolley  lines  were  wrecked  and 
useless.  Poverty-stricken,  terrified  and  hungry  crowds  of  people 
were  sheltered  in  tents  and  fed  with  food  sent  by  sympathetic  citi- 
zens of  other  places. 

At  one  side  of  this  picture,  standing  on  an  eminence  which  over- 
looked the  great  ruin,  there  was  a  man  who  represented  the  man- 
hood of  the  city.  He  was  dressed)  in  the  clothes  of  a  working 
man,  with  his  sleeves  rolled  up,  his  shirt  open  at  the  neck,  and 
with  one  hand  shading  his  eyes  he  looked  at  the  awful  soectacle 
before  him.  He  leans  forward.  We  follow  the  line  of  his  vision, 
and  find  that  it  is  centered  in  the  great  cloud  of  smoke,  which 
hangs  over  the  ruins.  We  look  closer  and  in  the  center  of  that 
cloud  is  seen  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  restored  city  of  the  future. 
Its  avenues  throb  with  life  and  business  activity.  Its  citizens  are 
well  fed  and  clothed,  and  peace  and  prosperity  prevail.  The  on- 
looking  citizen  who  catches  this  vision  of  the  new  San  Francisco 
sticks  a  trowel  and  a  square  in  his  belt,  takes  a  hammer  and  a  saw 
in  his  hand,  and  with  burning  eyes,  set  lips  and  throbbing  muscles, 
starts  forward  to  aid  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  city  of  vision. 

Men  of  God  look  upon  the  waste  and  ruin  wrought  in  the  world 
by  sin,  the  soul-suffering  and  general  destitution  of  sin-cursed 
humanity.  They  look  from  this  to  the  vision  of  redemption  and  res- 
toration, which  stands  out  upon  the  pages  of  prophecy.  They 
catch  the  Master-spirit.  They  lay  hold  upon  the  means  and  oppor- 
tunities for  service  and  with  faith  and  courage  go  out  to  assist  in 
the  making  of  all  things  new  and  glorious. — A.  A.  Samson,  in 
Olive  Trees. 


THE   CHURCH'S   OBLIGATIONS  » 

Such  as  I  Have, 

Some  years  ago  a  woman  came  to  me  at  the  close  oC  the  Sab- 
bath morning  service  and  said,  "Oh,  I  would  give  anything  to 
be  in  this  work  actively  and  actually.  I  would  give  anything  to 
have  some  living  part  in  the  work  which  is  going  on  here  next 
week  in  winning  men  and  women  to  Christ,  but  I  do  not  know 
what  to  do."  I  said,  "My  sister,  are  you  prepared  to  give  the 
Master  the  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  you  posses?"  She  said,  "I 
do  not  know  that  I  have  five  loaves  and  two  fishes."  I  said, 
"Have  you  anything  which  you  have  used  in  any  way  specially?" 
"No,"  she  did  not  think  she  had.  "Well,"  I  said,  "can  you  sing?" 
Her  reply  was,  "Yes,  I  sing  at  home,  and  I  have  sung  before 
now  in  an  entertainment."  "Well,  now,"  I  said),  "let  us  put  our 
hand  on  that.  Will  you  give  the  Lord  your  voice  for  the  next 
ten  days?"  Said  she,  "I  will."  I  shall  never  forget  that  Sunday- 
evening.  I  asked  her  to  sing,  and  she  sang.  She  sang  the  gospel 
message  with  the  voice  she  had,  feeling  that  it  was  a  poor,  worth- 
less thing,  and  that  night  there  came  out  of  that  meeting  into  the 
inquiry-room  one  man.  That  man  said  to  me  afterward  that  it 
was  the  gospel  that  was  sung  which  reached  his  heart;  and  from 
that  day  to  this — that  is  now  eleven  or  twelve  years  ago — ^that 
man  has  been  one  of  the  mightiest  workers  for  God  in  that  city 
and  country  I  have  ever  known.  How  was  it  done?  A  woman 
gave  the  Master  what  she  had. 

Are  we  willing  to  give  the  Master  what  we  have?  If  so,  there 
will  be  a  harvest  of  glorious  surprises  in  the  immedliate  future. 
There  is  not  a  talentless  man  or  woman  in  the  world. — G.  Camp- 
bell Morgan. 

The  Youth's  Companion,  not  long  ago,  had  a  little  true  story  of 
a  young  woman  who  felt  herself  sadly  aggrieved  and  disappointed 
because  she  was  unable  to  carry  out  her  cherished  plan  of  becom- 
ing a  foreign  missionary.  She  finally  went  to  her  pastor  with  her 
trouble,  and  he  sent  her  on  a  "mission  to  the  streets,"  as  he  called 
it.  "All  up  and  down  the  streets,"  the  old  minister  said,  "in  the 
cars,  the  markets,  the  stores,  there  are  people  starving  for  the 
bread  of  life.  The  church  cannot  reach  them — ^they  will  not 
enter  the  church.  Books  cannot  help  them — many  of  them  never 
open  a  book.  There  is  but  one  way  that  they  can  ever  read  the 
gospel  of  hope,  of  joy,  of  courage,  and  that  is  in  the  faces  of  men 
and  women." — 'Anna  Burnham  Bryant. 


SERVICE  TWO— Sunday  Evening 
The  Vanity  of  a  Worldly  Life 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  II 

And  the  world  passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof ;  but 
he  that  doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  forever.— 
I  John  2:iy. 

Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  present 
world. — 2  Tim.  4:10. 

Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the 
world.  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  not  m  him. — /  John  2:15. 

And  be  not  conformed  to  this  world. — Rom.  12:2. 

Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity. — Eccles.  1:2. 

This  present  evil  world. — Gal.  1:4. 

For  what  is  your  life?  It  is  even  a  vapor,  that  ap- 
peareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth  away. 
— James  4:14. 

Your  riches  are  corrupted,  and  your  garments  are 
motheaten. — James  5:2. 

Ye  have  lived  in  pleasure  on  the  earth,  and  been 
wanton. — James  5:5. 

They  spend  their  days  in  wealth,  and  in  a  moment  go 
down  to  the  grave. — Job  21:1^. 

Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion. — Amos  6:1. 

But  she  that  liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead  while  she 
liveth. — /  Tim.  5:6. 

Having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world. — 
Eph.  2:12. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

And  the  world  passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof;  but  he  that 
doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  forever. — 1  John  2:17. 

1.  Bible     conceptions     flatly     contradict     mere     human 

judgment. 

2.  The    transiency    and    insecurity    of    the    things    men 

trust  in. 

3.  The    eternal    permanency   of   the   spiritual;   "for   the 

things  which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  but  the 
things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  present  world. — 

2  Tim.  4:10 

1.  The  lure  of  time  and  sense. 

2.  The  wretched   exchange   of  heaven  for   earth ;  what 

Demas  lost — Christ ;  Christian  fellowship ;  the 
lives  he   might  have  blessed;  his  crown. 

3.  Vigilance  the  price  of  safety ;  "let  him  that  tbinketh 

he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall," 

Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world. 
If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him. 

— 1  John  2:15. 

1.  Life's  supreme  choice;  heaven  versus  earth — mutually 

exclusive. 

2.  Glad  use  of  the  world  as  God's  gift  is  not  love  of  it. 

3.  To  love  it  means  absorption,  the  exclusion  of  Christ 

from  our  hearts. 

4.  Love   of   the    world   brings    sorrow,    failure,    eternal 

loss. 

And  be  not  conformed  to  this  world. — Rom.  12:2. 

1.  Conformity  is  not:     (1)  Rational  enjoyment  of  inno- 

cent pleasures ;  (2)  Needed  attention  to  legitimate 
work ;  (3)  Giving  proper  play  to  natural  impulses. 

2.  Conformity    means:    (1)    Accepting    worldly    stand- 

ards ;  (2)  Immoderate  pursuit  of  worldly  prizes, 
the  enthronement  of  material  things;  (3)  Being 
lovers  of  pleasure  rather  than   God. 


34  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

Vanity  of  vanities  all  is  vanity. — Eccles.  1 :2. 

1.  The  world,  like  fire,  is  a  good  servant. 

2.  A   bad    master. 

3.  Kept  under  our  feet  it  has  real  spiritual  value,  but 

surrendered  to  it,  crushes  us  with  disappointment 
by  its  unkept  promises. 

Who  gave  himself  for  our  sins,  that  he  might  deliver  us  from 
this  present  evil  world. — Gal.  1 :4. 

1.  From  its  glamor,  fascination,  spell. 

2.  From  sin's  bondage,  power. 

3.  From  eternal  death — the  worldling's  doom. 

For  what  is  your  life?    It  is  even  a  vapor. — James  4:14. 

1.  How  few  inquire! 

2.  A  momentous  problem. 

3.  God's  answer — "a  vapor,"  a  cloud,  "a  snowflake  in 

the  river." 

4.  Linked  to  Christ,  life  wins  a  blessed  immortality. 

Your  riches  are  corrupted,  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten. 

— James  5  :2. 

1.  Man's  over-estimate  of  the  value  of  wealth. 

2.  God's  appraisement. 

3.  Of  infinite   importance   that   man   accept   God's  esti- 

mate. 

Ye  have  lived  in  pleasure  on  the  earth,  and  been  wanton. — 
James  5  :5. 

1.  Money-love  the  world's  curse. 

2.  It  breeds  disregard  of  God's  claims. 

3.  Of  our  fellow's  claims.  \ 

4.  It  rots  the  fiber  of  character. 

5.  Entails  the  soul's  loss. 

They  spend  their  days  in  wealth,  and  in  a  moment  go  down  to 
the  grave. — Job.  '21 :13. 

1.  Wealth    dulls    spiritual    perceptions;    our    share    of 

life's  obligations,  opportunities,  insecurity. 

2.  Wealth  cannot  bribe  death. 

3.  Death's     sudden     summons     often     finds     the     man 

immersed    in    the    cares    of   riches    wholly   unpre- 
pared. 

4.  What  shall  it  profit  us? 


THE  VANITY   OF   A   WORLDLY    LIFE  35 

Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion. — Amos  6:1. 

1.  The  Christian's  life  intended  to  be  militant. 

2.  Spiritual    indolence    and    self-indulgence    are    a   per- 

version of  this  intention. 

3.  They  incur  God's  condemnation. 

But   she   that  liveth  in  pleasure   is   dead   while   she   liveth. — 
1  Tim.  5  :6. 

1.  "Live  while  you  live,"  the  world's  motto. 

2.  Worldly   life   really   a   living   death ;    "dead   in   sin," 

dead     to     all     life's     higher     calls     and     motives; 
unresponsive  to  the  Spirit's  influence. 

3.  True  living;  "and  the  life  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I 

live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God."     "Eye  hath 
not  seen." 

Having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world. — Eph.  2:12. 

1.  The  loneliness  of  sin;  no  God;  no  part  in  the  cross. 

2.  No  fellowship  with  Christ. 

3.  No  share  in  the  rended  tomb;  (1)  No  pardon  for  the 

past;   (2)   No  peril  in  the  present;   (3)   No  hope 
for  the  future. 


SUGGESTIONS 

If  you  have  a  young  people's  society  meeting  on  Sundlay  evening 
before  service,  use  it  for  sounding  an  echo  of  the  morning's 
sermon,  and  deepening  the  impression. 

Hold  a  prayer  meeting  before  the  evening  service  for  all 
specially  interested  in  winning  others  to  Christ, 

If  it  is  your  custom,  after  preaching,  to  call  for  outward 
expressions  of  interest,  or  requests  for  prayers,  it  may  be  well  not 
to  use  the  plan  too  early  in  your  services,  or  until  evidences  of 
interest  indicate  the  probability  of  responses.  Every  invitation 
failing  to  call  forth  a  response  makes  it  more  difficult  to  secure 
responses   later. 

With  reference  to  the  specific  form  to  be  prescribed  for  these 
responses,  local  customs  and  individual  preferences  must  govern. 
In  some  cases  printed  cards,  pledging  the  acceptance  of  Christ, 
are  distributed  for  signatures.  Others  request  those  yieldling  to 
Christ's  claims,  or  desiring  the  prayers  of  the  congregation,  to 
raise  a  hand,  or  to  stand  up,  while  the  congregation  bows  in  silent 
prayer.  In  some  cases  they  are  invited  to  come  forward  and 
occupy  seats  reserved  in  front.  This  is  Dr.  Torrey's  method.  At 
the  close  of  the  service.  Christians  talk  with  them,  seeking  to  make 
the  way  of  salvation  clear.  In  some  cases  an  inquiry  room  is  pro- 
vided, and  inquiries  and  workers  go  to  it  after  service.  Some 
pastors  prefer  to  meet  those  interested  at  the  close  of  the  service 
and  make  an  appointment  to  call  on  them  for  an  extended  talk  the 
next  day.  Local  conductors  and  the  pastor's  judgment  must 
determine  the  choice.  But  some  plan  for  encouraging  the  taking  of 
a  definite  step  should  by  all  means  be  used. 

A  five-minute  after-talk,  separated  from  the  sermon  by  a  hymn 
and  prayer,  will  be  found  of  advantage  for  a  more  intimate  and 
less  formal  summing  up  of  the  points  of  the  sermon  leading  more 
directly  to  personal  decision. 

All  announcements  of  the  further  services  should  be  carefully 
weighed  and  made.    Attractively  printed  cards  or  folders  announc- 


THE  VANITY   OF  A  WORLDLY   LIFE  37 

ing  services  arid!  themes  should  be  freely  distributed  a  week  or  two 
before,  as  well  as  during,  the  services.  Consecrated  advertising 
counts. 

The  old  lady  who  had  been  to  hear  Robert  McQieyne  preach 
said,  "He  preaches  as  if  he  is  a'dyin'  a'most  to  have  you  con- 
verted." 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

There  are  many  adversaries.  There  is  one  which  offers  a  cease- 
less defiance  and  a  constant  siege.  In  the  New  Testament  speech 
it  is  named  "the  world,"  and  it  is  about  every  man,  with  pressure 
like  an  atmosphere.  Let  a  man  seek  to  be  "transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  his  mind"  under  an  idteal  whose  standard  is  character, 
and  whose  ends  are  spiritual,  and  always  he  is  under  necessity  of 
watchfulness  and  resistance  lest  he  "be  conformed  to  this  world." 
He  has  to  live  in  a  world  which  sets  little  store  on  the  things  he 
counts  highest,  and  would  have  him  off  his  platform  on  to  a  lower 
which  stands  nearer,  as  it  would  persuade  him,  to  practical  things. 
It  is  in  love  with  those  other  ideals  which  have  been  mentioned; 
it  values  gold  more  than  character,  comfort  more  than  self-respect, 
ease  more  than  diuty,  the  opinion  of  men  more  than  the  judgment 
of  conscience,  liberty  more  than  righteousness.  There  is  a  story 
in  the  New  Testament  of  one  who,  having  been  captured  by  the 
Highest,  listened  to  the  plea  of  the  lower,  and  it  is  told  in  a  single 
line,  "Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  present  world." 
Whether  it  was  the  catastrophe  of  a  lowered  ideal,  or  the  more 
complete  tragedy  of  an  abandoned  one,  we  do  not  know.  All  we 
know  for  certain  of  Demas  is  that  he  made  "the  great  refusal," 
and  that,  having  set  his  affections  on  things  above,  he  succumbed 
to  pressure  and  gave  them  to  "this  present  world."  Whenever 
this  comes  to  pass,  tragedy  is  the  only  word  which  fits  the  case. 
It  means  that  a  man  submits  to  be  governed  by  what  he  should 
control.  It  means  a  diminished  self-respect.  It  means  that  his 
estimate  of  values  is  tampered  with.  It  means  divided  allegiance 
and  civil  war  in  the  kingdom  of  himself,  for  he  has  dethroned  the 
only  powers  strong  enough  to  make  a  unity  of  life's  loyalties.  It 
means  a  lost  intimacy  with  Christ,  for  how  shall  he  look  upon 
him  whom  he  has  pierced? — Sculptors  of  Life. 

The  natural  mind  tries  to  get  out  of  the  conclusion  into  which 
it  is  thus  shut  up  by  pleading  that  it  can  combine  the  love  of  both 
worlds,  seeking  both  God's  righteousness  and  the  prizes  of  world- 
liness  at  the  same  time.  Therefore,  Jesus  goes  on  to  show  that  life 
can  have  only  a  single  aim,  and  that  every  one  must  choose  be- 


THE  VANITY   OF  A  WORLDLY    LIFE  39 

tween  the  upward  and  the  downward  path.  This  he  illustrates  by 
two  figures  of  speech.  The  first  is  that  of  the  eye.  This  is  the 
lamp  of  the  body.  When  it  takes  in  the  light  simply  and  fully, 
it  provides  a  circle  of  illumination,  inside  which  all  the  other  mem- 
bers discharge  their  functions  normally.  But,  if  an  eye  be  sick 
or  "evil" — especially  if  it  is  so  evil  as  to  advise  the  members  to  go 
in  opposite  directions — then  the  whole  body  loses  safe  guidance. 
If  the  very  principles  which  a  man  has  adopted  as  the  divine  lights 
for  his  existence  be  mistaken,  he  may  be  walking  in  the  grossest 
darkness  when  he  imagines  he  is  walking  in  the  light.  The  other 
illustnation  is  the  more  commonplace  one  of  a  slave  with  two 
masters,  uttering  contradictory  commands ;  but  the  conclusion  is 
still  more  obvious — that  he  must  get  rid  of  one  of  the  two,  if  there 
is  to  be  any  unity  or  happiness  in  his  life. — Stalker. 

Young  people  at  the  outset  of  their  career  are  apt  to  put  mis- 
taken value  on  fame.  They  see  names  that  are  often  repeated  in 
the  papers,  those  of  men  in  public  life,  of  men  who  write  books, 
men  who  control  armies,  or  men  who  paint  pictures.  "Such  a 
man  is  famous,"  they  say,  and  their  souls  spring  forward  with 
eager  yearning  to  a  future  day  when  they  may  be  famous,  too. 
If  they  live  long  enough  they  are  disillusionized.  01  all  bubbles 
that  break  at  a  breath,  fame  is  the  readiest  to  break.  Of  all 
hollow  shams  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  fame  is  the  hollowest.  The 
fame  of  very  few  endures  beyond  their  own  period.  Often  persons 
now  famous  have  died  in  ignorance  of  the  esteem  in  which  the 
world  would  by  and  by  hold  them.  In  the  widest  calculation,  fame 
is  partial  and  limited.  Society  is  composed  of  innumerable  ming- 
ling and  intermingling  circles,  and  a  majority  of  these  are  so 
absorbed  in  their  individual  affairs  that  they  would  not  step  to  the 
window  to  look  should  a  hero  pass  down  the  street. — The  Chris- 
tian Intelligencer. 

Worldly  wealth  cannot  satisfy  the  soul's  longing.  The  more 
money  a  man  has,  the  better,  if  he  gets  it  honestly  and  uses  it 
lawfully.  But  the  man  who  builds  his  soul's  happiness  on  earthly 
accumulation  is  not  wise.  No  amount  that  he  can  gather  bj  the 
sweat  of  his  brow  or  the  strength  of  his  arm  can  make  him  happy. 
The  heart  right,  all  is  right.  He  invites  you  to  higher  riches,  to 
crowns  that  never  fade,  to  investments  that  always  declare  divi- 
dlends. — Talmage. 


40  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Prosperity  begets  self-satisfaction  and  self-confidence.  God  and 
his  favors  do  not  seem  so  indispensable  when  we  feel  that  we  have 
all  the  world  can  supply,  and  the  danger  of  growing  forgetful'  of 
him  is  very  great.  This  by  no  means  implies  that  the  soul  which 
is  increased  with  this  world's  goods  may  not  be  an  uncompromising 
Christian,  but  only  that  prosperity  tests  one's  higher  life  at  every 
point,  and  that  those  who  have  weathered  all  the  ''shoals  and 
miseries"  of  ebb  tide  may  be  swept  out  to  sea  and  lost  on  the 
rising  waves  of  the  flood  tide. — The  American  Friend. 

Saints  in  Wrong  Places. 

1.  Some  get  imder  the  tree  of  discouragement,  like  Elijah.  Dis- 
couragement is  a  destroyer  of  faith,  a  damper  upon  love,  and  a 
veil  upon  the  face  of  hope ;  therefore  it  is  a  sin  to  be  discouraged. 

2.  Some  get  on  the  slippery  path  of  worldliness,  like  Abram, 
when  he  "went  down"  to  Egypt.  There  is  no  tent  of  separation, 
no  altar  of  communion,  land  no  revelation  of  joy  in  Egypt.  These 
are  only  found  at  the  Bethel  of  fellowship  with  God.  (Gen. 
12:7-10;  13:4.) 

3.  Some  get  on  the  house-top  of  self-ease,  like  David  (2  Sam. 
11 :2),  who  stayed  at  home  when  he  should  have  been  on  the  battle- 
field. His  self-ease  led  to^  self-indulgence,  which  brought  upon  him 
the  chastening  hand  of  the  Lord.  Self-ease,  like  rust,  corrodes 
the  spirit  with  the'  mildew  of  unbelief,  warps  the  moral  fiber  of 
consecrated  work,  and  blinds  the  eyes  of  its  devotee  to  the  right 
and  attractive  beauty  of  Christ. 

4.  Some  are  ensnared  in  the  meshes  of  disobedience,  like  the 
man  of  God  out  of  Judah,  who  was  entrapped  by  the  wily  old 
prophet  of  Bethel.  (1  Kings  13:9.)  No  saint  on  earth,  no  angel 
from  heaven,  no  dtevil  from  hell,  and  no  man  under  the  sun,  should 
turn  us  aside  from  the  plain  direction  of  God's  word. 

5.  Some  get  into  the  doubting  castle  of  unbelief,  like  John  the 
Baptist,  who  sent  his  disciples  to  Christ  to  know  if  he  was  the 
Messiah  (Matt.  11:3),  after  he  had  proclaimed  him  as  such. 
(John  1:34).  Doubt  is  a  faith-crippler,  joy-killer,  zeal-damper, 
mind-darkener,  love-retarder,  hope-annuller,  and  Christ-hinderer. 

6.  Some  get  into  the  sieve  of  self-confidence,  like  Peter.  (Luke 
22:32,  33).     When  self  puffs  up,  and  we  warm  ourselves  at  the 

world's  fire,  we  place  ourselves  where  Satan  can  grab  us,  and  when 


THE  VANITY   OF  A  WORLDLY    LIFE  41 

he  gets  hold'  of  us  he  riddles  us  to  the  loss  of  our  power  and  joy. 
7.  Some  get  into  the  ring  of  wnanghng,  Hke  the  disciples,  who 
"disputed  among  themselves"  as  to  who  should  be  the  greatest. 
(Mark  9:34.)  They  did  not  strive  for  the  lowest  place,  nor  as  to 
who  should  be  nearest  to  Christ.  Strife  is  the  child  of  pride,  the 
companion  of  ambition,  the  killer  of  unity,  the  grief  of  the  Spirit, 
the  bane  of  humility,  the  hinderer  of  the  gospel,  and  the  despiser 
of  love. — London  Christian. 

In  the  life  of  the  voluptuary  there  is  no  comfort.  I  need  not 
draw  aside  the  curtain  that  hides  the  excesses  into  which  Solomon's 
dissoluteness  plunged  him.  But  I  tear  off  the  garlands  which  hide 
this  death's  head,  and  I  hold  before  you  the  reeking  skull  of  sinful 
pleasure.  There  is  no  peace  in  the  life  of  a  voluptuary.  Solomon 
answers,  "None!  none!"  Where  is  there  any?  In  the  religion  of 
Jesus.  "Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are 
peace."  In  Christ  is  peace.  In  Christ  is  pardon.  In  Christ  is 
everlasting  joy,  and  nowhere  else. — Talmage. 

Happiness  is  made  of  so  many  pieces  that  there  is  always  one 
missing, — Bossuet. 

Essayists,  editors,  preachers,  teachers,  sociologists,  and  plain, 
every-day  folk  are  discussing  the  question,  "What  is  the  matter 
with  the  life  of  to-day?"  John  gave  the  answer  nineteen  centuries 
ago,  when  he  admonished  his  friends  to  "love  not  the  world." 
That  is  what  ails  men  and  women  today;  we  love  the  world  over- 
much; its  pomp  and  pride  and  parade  and  possessions.  We  have 
gone  mad  after  things.  Most  of  us  are  trying  to  "go  the  pace," 
and  so  we  have  lost  our  peace  and  our  joy  and  our  power.  And 
with  it  all  we  are  blind  to  the  obvious  fact  that  among  the 
unhappiest  persons  on  earth  are  those  who  have  obtained  most  of 
this  world's  gifts.  The  love  of  the  present  world  is  the  blight 
of  our  times ;  let  us  go  to  school  to  saintly  old  John  to  learn  a 
better  way. 

"Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world. 
If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him." 
(1  John  2:15.)  Do  not  be  deceived  by  the  attractiveness  of  this 
world.  It  will  cheat  you  and  destroy  you.  "The  Redoubtable" 
was  the  name  of  a  French  ship  that  Lord  Nelson  spared  twice 
from  destruction;  and  it  was  from  the  rigging  of  that  very  ship 


42  THE    PASTOR   HIS   OWN    EVANGELIST 

that  the  fatal  ball  that  killed  him  was  fired.  The  devil  administers 
many  a  sin  in  honey;  but  there  is  poison  mixed  with  it.  The 
truest  pleasures  spring  from  the  good  seed  of  righteousness — none 
else  are  profitable. — D.  L.  Moody. 

A  young  lady,  in  giving  her  reasons  for  preferring  a  particular 
church,  remarked  that  she  "liked  it  best  because  it  allowed  its 
members  to  dance."  She  had  been  brought  up  to  regard  this  as 
inconsistent  for  a  professor  of  religion.  She  could  not  help  feel- 
ing that  it  was  running  a  risk  to  try  to  get  to  heaven  and  carry 
the  world  with  her.  But  here  was  comfort.  She  had  found  a 
religious  guide  on  which  she  could,  as  she  fancied,  shift  off  the 
responsibility.  Instead  of  deciding  for  herself,  in  the  light  of 
Christ's  teachings,  she  chose  to  take  a  second-hand  opinion  of  a 
mere  man  as  a  rule. 

One  is  reminded  of  an  incident  related  by  Dr.  Whately  of  an 
old  bridge  which  had  long  been  thought  unsafe  even  for  foot  pas- 
sengers. People  usually  went  a  considerable  distance  around 
rather  than  venture  upon  it.  But  one  evening  a  woman  in  great 
haste  came  up  to  the  bridge  before  she  reflected  on  its  unsafe  con- 
dition. It  was  late,  and  she  had  yet  to  dress  for  a  party.  She 
could  not  go  all  the  way  around,  though  still  afraid  to  venture. 
At  last  a  happy  thought  seemed  to  strike  her.  She  called  for  a 
sedan  chair,  and  was  cairied  over.  Now  the  young  lady  who  de- 
sired to  follow  the  world  and  go  to  heaven,  too,  was  afraid  to 
trust  her  own  judgment  on  the  subject  of  dancing.  She  feared 
the  tottering  arch  might  give  way,  and  she  be  lost  forever.  To 
make  all  safe,  she  added  to  the  weight  of  her  own  chance  of  error 
the  additional  chances  of  her  human  authority  being  wrong  also. 

It  is  not  what  the  church  "will  let  you  do,"  but  what  Jesus 
Christ  sanctions,  that  must  be  your  guide. — The  Sunday  School 
Times. 

Cromwell,  I  did  not  think  to  shed  a  tear 
In  all  my  miseries;  but  thou  hast  forc'd  me 
Out  of  thy  honest  truth,  to  play  the  woman. 
Let's  dry  our  eyes:  and  thus  far  hear  me,  Cromwell; 
And,  when  I  am  forgotten,  as  I  shall  be. 
And  sleep  in  dull  and  cold  marble,  where  no  mention 
Of  me  more  must  be  heard  of,  say,  I  taught  thee ; 
Say,  Wolsey,  that  once  trod  the  ways  of  glory. 
And  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shoals  of  honor. 


THE  VANITY   OF   A   WORLDLY    LIFE  43 

Found  thee  a  way,  out  of  his  wrack,  to  rise  in; 

A  sure  and  safe  one,  though  thy  master  missed  it. 

Mark  but  my.  fall,  and  that  that  ruin'd  me. 

Cromwell,  I  charge  thee,  fling  away  ambition ;  . 

By  that  sin  fell  the  angels ;  how  can  man,  then, 

The  image  of  his  Maker,  hope  to  win  by't? 

Love  thyself  last;  cherish  those  hearts  that  hate  thee; 

Corruption  wins  not  more  than  honesty. 

Still  in  thy  right  hand  carry  gentle  peace, 

To  silence  envious  tongues ;  be  just,  and  fear  not. 

Let  all  the  ends  thou  aim'st  at  be  thy  country's. 

Thy  God's  and  truth's;  then,  if  thou  fall'st,   O   Cromwell, 

Thou  fall'st  a  blessed  martyr!     Serve  the  king; 

And, — pritheee  lead  me  in ; 

There  take  an  inventory  of  all  I  have, 

To  the  last  penny ;  'tis  the  king's ;  my  robe. 

And  my  integrity  to  heaven  is  all 

I  dare  now  call  mine  own.     O  Cromwell,  Cromwell! 

Had  I  but  serv'd  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 

I  serv'd  my  king,  he  would  not  in  mine  age 

Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies ! — Henry  the  Eighth. 

There  are  those  who  are  at  ease  in  Zion  with  themselves.  These 
are  the  self-complacent  ones — those  who  are  satisfied  with  their 
spiritual  attainments,  who  have  no  spiritual  hunger  for  the  bread 
of  life,  no  soul  thirst  for  the  fountains  of  living  water,  no  desire 
for  a  larger  vision  or  a  richer  experience.  They  are  the  people 
who  are  content  to  sit  at  ease  in  their  religious  respectability  and 
flatter  themselves  upon  their  self-sufficiency.  They  are  the  people 
who  taste  a  little  here  and  there  from  the  Lord's  banqueting  table ; 
then  push  themselves  back  with  an  air  of  satisfaction  and  fashion- 
able delicacy,  saying:  "No,  thank  you,  I  do  not  care  for  more;  I 
have  had  quite  enough." 

This  contentment  with  small  attainments  in  the  religious  life, 
this  lack  of  spiritual  appetite,  is  alarmingly  prevalent  in  the  church. 
We  see  it  in  the  way  people  ignore  the  church  and  neglect  the 
Bible.  These  two  things  are  the  divinely  ordlained  means  of  grace 
which  God  has  given  for  our  spiritual  growth.  When  they  are 
ignored  and  neglected,  what  does  it  signify?  It  signifies  that  there 
is  no  sense  of  need  in  the  soul.  The  hungry  man  eats,  the  thirsty 
man  drinks ;  the  eating  and  drinking  are  evidences  of  normal  ap- 
petite.   The  church  member  who  uses  faithfully  the  means  of  grace 


44  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

which  God  gives  him,  evinces  a  healthful,  active  state  of  spiritual 
hunger,  but  the  one  who  does  not  care  for  them  and  lives  at  ease 
without  them  is  sluggish,  inertly  content  with  his  spiritual  condi- 
tion. 

Look  for  a  moment  at  the  facts.  Take  the  midweek  service.  It 
is  universally  conceded  that  this  service  offers  to  the  Christian 
more  practical  assistance  in  the  development  of  the  personal  relig- 
ious life  than  any  other  service  of  the  church.  But  the  fact  is  that 
only  a  very  small  per  cent  of  the  membership  attend  this  service. 
The  figures  show  that  usually  only  one  out  of  ten  of  the  members 
of  the  church  is  present  at  the  midweek  service.  Nothing  else 
could  more  positively  demonstrate  the  general  fact  that  Christian 
people  are  at  ease  in  Zion  with  themselves,  satisfied  with  their 
spiritual  attainments  and  without  a  vital  wish  for  anything  larger 
or  better. — William  R.  King,  D.  D.,  in  the  Interior. 

We  have  no  business  to  get  our  joy  from  the  light  that  shines  in 
this  rebellious  world.  We  must  get  joy  from  over  the  hills  of 
glory.  And  to  have  peace,  and  not  to  have  joy,  is  to  be  recreant 
to  Christian  duty. — G.  Campbell  Morgan. 

It  would  be  interesting  and  instructive  to  get  together  the  lead- 
ing business  men  in  any  community  who  are  also  "members  of  the 
church,"  and  ask  them  to  give  a  reason  for  the  fact  that  so  few  of 
the  eminently  successful  business  men  of  the  country  (who  are 
"professing  Christians")  are  so  little  engaged  or  even  interested  in 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  church.  Why  so  few  successful  busi- 
ness men  attend  the  weekly  prayer-meeting;  why  so  few  of  these 
men  are  found  in  the  forefront  of  revival  work;  why  it  is  so  dif- 
ficult to  get  successful  business  men  to  "speak  and  pray"  in  the 
church  meetings  or  take  any  leading  part  in  religious  work. — Pen- 
tecost. 

"Death  worketh, 
Let  me  work  too; 
Death  undoeth. 
Let  me  do. 
Busy  as  death  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 


THE  VANITY   OF  A  WORLDLY   LIFE  45 

"Time  worketh, 
Let  me  work  too ; 
^  Time  undoeth, 

Let  me  do. 
Busy  as  time  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

"Sin  worketh, 
Let  me  work  too; 

Sin  undoeth, 
Let  me  do. 
Busy  as  sin  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity." 

In  every  community  there  are  at  least  three  classes  of  people, 
The  church-goers  and  the  non-church-goers.  These  are  the 
two  grand  divisions.  Then  the  first  class  subdivides  into  two 
classes,  those  whc  are  spiritual  and  those  who  are  non-spirit- 
ual. The  non-spiritual  classes  are  made  up  about  equally  of 
backslidden  professors  of  religion  and  unconverted  people,  who 
have  from  habit,  social  or  family  reasons,  attended  the  church 
services  more  or  less  regularly  on  the  Sabbath  day — especially  in 
the  mornings — and  conclude  that,  having  done  so  much,  all  relig- 
ious obligation  is  fully  discharged  for  at  least  a  week.  As  to 
attention  to  any  week-day  or  evening  services,  or  any  special  relig- 
ious  meetings,  they  have  no  conviction  and  no  sense  of  obligation, 
and  rarely  any  moiety  of  interest.  When  a  season  of  special  meet- 
ings is  arranged  for,  you  may  expect  to  see  some  of  this  class  of 
unspiritual  church-goers  in  their  places  on  Sunday  morning,  but 
that  is  the  last  of  them.  Indeed  it  is  not  uncommon  that  they  take 
occasion  to  remark,  and  sometimes  with  great  emphasis,  that  they 
do  not  approve  of  these  "spasmodic  efiforts  to  get  up  a  religious 
excitement";  and  to  make  their  protest  strong  they  abandon  even 
the  small  habifc  they  have  of  going  to  church  on  Sundays.  The 
backslidden  unspiritual  professor  is  often  more  conspicuous  in  this 
kind  of  neglect  and  opposition  than  the  non-professor.  Certainly 
his  neglect  is  mere  noticeable,  because  there  is  at  least  a  formal 
obligation  upon  him  to  "lend  a  hand"  in  time  of  special  effort.— 
Words  and  Weapons. 


4^  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

The  race  for  riches  has  induced  many  disciples — forgetful  of  the 
infinite  cost  at  which  they  liave  been  redeemed — to  "trim,"  and 
give  "the  halt,  the  lame  and  the  blind,"  the  comparative  fag-ends 
of  their  time,  talents  and  means  to  God  and  his  great  work  of  the 
world's  gospelization,  not  to  speak  of  "the  lusts  of  other  things," 
which,  to  a  frightful  extent,  are  indulged,  to  the  destruction  of  the 
soul's  peace  and  prosperity. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Worth  of  Fame. 

In  the  diary  of  William  Allingham,  an  Irish  poet  whose  work 
has  a  singing  quality  as  tuneful  as  the  melody  of  the  thrush,  we 
find  many  suggestive  entries  and  not  a  few  intimate  touches  that 
bring  nearer  to  us  the  great  ones  of  the  past.  Allingham  had  in 
him  the  stuff  of  a  hero  worshiper.  He  loved  Tennyson  and  Carlyle 
with  intense  devotion,  and  the  records  he  made  of  his  visits  to 
them  are  revelations  of  both  men  finer  than  any  in  their  published 
lives.  His  diary  was  written  for  his  own  pleasure  and  information, 
and  was  not  meant  by  him  to  be  shown  to  the  public.  Therefore 
it  is  the  more  illuminating  in  the  glimpses  it  gives  of  various  well- 
known  people. 

When  Carlyle  was  eighty-four  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  his  birth- 
place in  Scotland.  There  stood  the  tiny  house  in  which  he  was 
born,  not  a  feature  of  the  surrounding  landscape  altered.  The 
people  in  the  streets  of  Ecclefechan  looked  much  as  they  did  in 
the  days  when  Carlyle  was  a  boy.  He  had  gone  from  them  and 
had  gained  world-wide  renown.  As  a  scholar  and  thinker,  a  lec- 
turer and  historian,  he  had  won  unfading  laurels.  Everywhere 
men  of  genius  honored  him,  and  the  British  Empire  took  pride  in 
his  work  as  that  of  a  man  who  had  influenced  thought  and  molded 
character.  He  was  in  every  sense  of  the  word  a  famous  man.  In 
Ecclefechan  nobody  cared  for  him.  The  old  man  aroused  no 
curiosity  and  received  no  plaudits.  One  sedate  elderly  man,  not 
unintelligent,  told  Mr.  Allingham  that  he  had  heard  of  Carlyle  and 
understood  that  he  had  written  something  that  was  called  clever, 
but  what  it  was  he  did  not  know. 

A  young  woman  was  asked  if  she  would  not  like  to  meet  him. 
Not  she.  The  aged  philosopher  came  and  went  in  his  native  place 
with  as  little  attention  as  if  he  had  never  left  it.  Only  a  single 
farmer,  standing  at  an  inn  door,  stepped  forward  with  a  request 
that  he  might  shake  the  old  man's  hand  "I  have  read  your 
works,"  he  said,  "and  I  count  it  an  honor  to  speak  to  you." — The 
Christian  IntelUzencer. 


48  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  Failure  of  Success. 
Yes!  but  of  what  sort?  Some  successes  may  cost  too  much. 
Wellington  once  said,  "Another  such  victory,  and  our  army  is 
gone."  On  the  other  hand,  what  looks  like  failure  is  often  true 
success.  Christ  dying  on  the  cross  in  the  midst  of  a  ribald  mob 
is  victor  as  he  exclaims,  "It  is  finished !" 

Feeding  on  Husks. 

There  are  people  who  for  years  and  years  have  been  scraping 
and  skimming  the  surface,  while  their  hearts  beneath  are  hard, 
untouched,  and  full  of  barrenness  and  desolation.  To  such 
people  comes  the  voice  of  God,  saying,  "Break  up  your  fal- 
low ground,  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord,  till  he  conae  and 
rain  righteousness  upon  you." 

"Why  am  I  not  happy?"  said  a  gentleman  to  a  friend  who 
had  been  his  classmate  at  college.  "I  have  everything  to  make 
me  happy — wife,  children,  a  happy  home,  money,  success, 
position ;  and  yet  I  would  give  everything  I  possess  to  have 
one  whiff  of  my  boyish  feelings  again.  Now,  why  am  I  not 
happy  ?" 

His  friend  answered: 

"You  see  nothing  but  dollars  and  cents  in  every  walk  of 
life.  You  want  a  great  reaction,  and  God  may  bring  back 
that  old-time  feeling." 

"I  do  not  know  what  could,"  he  replied,  "unless  a  great 
sorrow;  that  might." 

Many  a  man,  stupid  and  stolid  through  prosperity  and 
peace,  needs  the  breaking  up  of  the  plow  of  God  to  go  through 
his  soul ;  and  when  his  hopes  are  blighted,  his  joys  are  with- 
ered, and  the  agriculture  of  grief  and  desolation  and  disap- 
pointment has  done  its  work,  how  often  the  wilderness  and 
the  solitary  place  are  made  to  rejoice  and  blossom  like  Sharon, 
and  bloom  as  the  rose. — Common  People. 

Moth-Eaten  Garments. 

It  is  said  that  when  Alexander  the  Great  took  Persepolis 
the  riches  of  all  Asia  were  gathered  there ;  not  only  quantities 
of  silver  and  gold,  but  also  abundance  of  raiment.  When  the 
Roman  Lucullus  was  requested  to  lend  a  hundred  garments 
to  the   theater,  he  replied  that  he   had  five  thousand   in  his 


THE  VANITY   OF  A   WORLDLY    LIFE  49 

house,  and  they  were  welcome  to  take  as  many  as  they  would. 
In  regard  to  that  species  of  wealth,  James  said,  "Your  gar- 
ments are  moth-eaten;"  and  so  he  said  of  coin,  "Your  gold  and 
silver  is  cankered." 

Fickle  Fame. 

Mr.  Stanley,  the  great  African  discoverer,  found  that  his 
lecturing  tour  in  England,  whilst  a  financial  success,  was  not 
altogether  a  pleasant  experience.  The  audiences  seemed  to 
care  a  great  deal  more  for  the  war-songs  and  dances  of  the 
black  boy  Kalulu  than  for  the  descriptive  lecture.  Stanley's 
self-esteem  was  wounded,  and  he  felt  quite  jealous  of  Kalulu, 
who,  however,  soon  died. 

Forgetting  Their  Heritage. 

A  visitor  was  once  watching  a  group  of  slaves,  slouching 
and  shuffling  off  to  their  work.  One  tall,  broad-shouldered 
fellow  strode  on,  head  erect  and  with  the  gait  of  a  man. 
"How's  that?"  the  visitor  asked.  "Oh,  he's  the  son  of  an 
African  king,"  was  the  reply.  "He  never  forgets  that."  Alas! 
we  forget,  amid  the  drudgeries  of  earth,  that  we  are  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  King  of  kings,  and  in  training  for  thrones  in 
his  empire. — The  Christian  Herald. 

Just  as  Thirsty  as  Before. 

He  rushed  through  life  *  *  *  He  desired  too  much;  he 
wished  strongly  and  greedily  to  taste  life  in  one  draught, 
thoroughly;  he  did  not  glean  or  taste  it,  he  tore  it  off  like 
a  bunch  of  grapes,  pressing  it,  crushing  it,  twisting  it;  and  he 
remained  with  stained  hands,  just  as  thirsty  as  before.  Then 
broke  forth  sobs  which  found  an  echo  in  all  hearts. — Taine  on 
"Alfred  de  Musset" 

Earth  Obstructed,  v 

The  water  stopped  one  day  in  the  pipe  that  supplied  a 
trough  in  the  pasture.  The  cattle  were  thirsty.  Over  and 
over  again  we  saw  them  go  to  the  watering-place  and  look 
down  into  the  trough  to  go  away  disappointed  and  almost 
perishing  from  thirst. 

Then  we  w^nt  up  ancl  found  at  the  upper  end  of  the  pipe 
which  lay  in  the  spring  a  tiny  bit  of  sod.    It  was  but  the  work 


50  THE    PASTOR   HIS    OWN    EVANGELIST 

of  a  moment  to  take  that  away,  and  then  down  through  the 
pipe  the  water  went  gurgling  to  fill  the  trough  below  once 
more. 

Only  a  bit  of  earth! 

What  is  the  reason  so  many  of  us  are  dying  of  thirst  in 
these  days?  We  go  to  the  place  appointed  and  lift  up  eyes 
and  hearts,  expecting  to  be  filled  with  the  water  of  life,  and 
yet  we  go  away  as  dry  and  unsatisfied  as  when  we  came. 
Why? 

Over  the  upper  end  of  the  channel  that  comes  down  from 
the  fountain  there  is  a  bit  of  the  world.  Our  own  hands  have 
placed  it  there.  You  know  what  is  the  matter  in  your  case; 
I  know  in  mine.  And  we  know,  too,  that  as  long  as  that  is 
there,  we  never  shall  be  satisfied.  We  are  dying  of  thirst 
because  the  world  is  between  us  and  the  source  of  supply.— 
The  Homiletic  Review. 

"Rank  Failure." 

The  New  York  Sun  not  long  ago  published  a  letter  that 
was  evidently  written  with  some  man's  heart-blood.  The  letter 
was  anonymous  but  it  bore  every  mark  of  sincerity.  The 
writer  goes  on  to  tell  he  came  to  New  York  a  very  poor  boy, 
and  having  now  made  a  large  fortune  had  retired  from  busi- 
ness. "But,"  says  the  confessing  millionaire,  "when  I  think 
it  over  day  by  day,  I  can  only  be  ashamed  of  it  all.  I  sup- 
pose that  I  was  no  worse  than  the  others ;  I  know  that  some 
were  worse  than  T.  But  I  forgot  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
a  square  deal.  If  I  could  get  the  better  of  an  associate  or  a 
customer  or  an  employee,  I  did.  Anything  that  I  could  do  to 
attam  my  own  success  was  good  business,  and  I  did  it.  I  have 
given  to  charity,  but  it  doesn't  satisfy  me.  I  know  what 
I  have  done  wasn't  manly.  The  modern  success  is  rank  fail- 
ure. I  would  give  all  that  I  possess  tonight,  if  I  could  say, 
'T  have  given  everyone  a  square  deal.  I  have  done  no  man 
wrong.'  Think  it  over;  it  will  mean  a  lot  to  you  some  day." — 
The  Sunday  School  Times. 

Loving  and  Losing  His  Life. 
Two  students  were  walking  together  along  the  hedgerows 
of    an    English    country    road.     Again    one    stopped,    saying, 


THE  VANITY   OF   A   WORLDLY    LIFE  Si 

"There  is  the  best  illustration  of  an  old  text  I  ever  saw!" 
And  when  his  companion  looked  at  him  inquiringly,  he  said, 
slowly,  "He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it."  Right  in  front 
of  them  a  blackberry  bush  thrust  out  one  of  its  branches  by 
the  side  of  the  road.  It  was  covered  with  great  black  luscious 
fruit.  All  the  beautiful  blossoms  that  had  covered  that  vine 
in  the  early  spring  had  yielded  up  their  petals  and  their  life, 
and  in  this  spray  of  fruit  had  found  again  their  lives  in  due 
season.  But  just  above  there  hung  down  another  vine  cov- 
ered still  with  miserable,  stunted,  yellow,  untimely  blossoms. 
The  two  vines,  one  gleaming  black  with  its  ripened  harvest  of 
sweetness,  the  other  a  frightful  travesty,  a  sickly  memory  of 
the  glorious  bloom  of  the  springtime,  touched  each  other; 
and  taking  up  the  little  bristling  branch  of  stunted  bloom,  each 
miserable  flower  of  which  with  desperate  selfishness  still  held 
on  to  its  petals  for  dear  life,  the  student  said  again,  sadly 
and  slowly,  "He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it!" — The  Con- 
gregationalist. 

Fickle  Favor. 

Miltiades  was  immortalized  one  day  in  art  and  imprisoned 
the  next  day  in  a  dungeon.  Lord  Cobham,  who,  in  King 
James'  time,  was  applauded  and  had  thirty-five  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  was  afterwards  execrated,  and  lived  on  scraps 
stolen  from  the  royal  kitchen.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  was 
borne  from  Waterloo  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  admiring 
countrymen.  But  the  same  man  saw  his  mansion  stormed 
by  an  infuriated  rabble  and  refused  to  have  the  fence  mended, 
preferring  to  leave  it  in  ruins,  "that  men  might  learn  what  a 
fickle  thing  is  human  favor." 

Trembling  Pedestals. 

Count  Moltke,  after  one  of  his  greatest  victories,  said, 
"When  I  listen  to  all  the  exaggerated  flattery  which  the  public 
sees  fit  to  bestow  upon  me,  I  can  only  think  how  it  would 
have  been  if  this  victory,  this  triumph,  had  not  been  ours. 
Would  not  the  selfsame  praise  have  changed  to  indiscriminate 
censure,  to  senseless  blame?" 


52  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Losing   the   Sense    of    Otherliness. 

Driving  in  the  northern  suburbs  of  the  city  I  came  across 
a  man  with  a  box  of  homing  pigeons. 

He  told  me  that  he  came  from  the  southern  part  of  the  city 
and  had  brought  the  birds  out  for  practice. 

I  waited  for  him  to  liberate  one,  and  observed  the  actions 
of  the  bird.  It  flew  back  and  forth  in  various  directions  for  a 
while  over  the  roofs  of  houses  and  between  the  tall  chimneys 
of  near-by  factories,  as  if  it  were  lost.  Then  it  began  to  soar 
upward  until,  at  quite  a  height,  it  started  south  and  until  lost 
to  view  was  going  in  a  direct  line  for  its  home. 

So  the  Christian  whose  life  is  given  to  worldliness  loses  the 
sense  of  the  heavenly  home,  and  rushes  aimlessly  hither  and 
thither. 

But  let  him  recognize  his  heavenly  citizenship,  and  let  his 
spirit  soar  into  the  pure  atmosphere  of  God's  love ;  then  his 
spiritual  vision  sees  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  the  life  takes  on 
directness  and  steadies  itself  upon  its  course  toward  eternal 
life. — The  Homilctic  Rcvicn.'. 

This  Little  World. 

After   having  witnessed    the   sickness   of   his    sister    Fanny, 
which  afterwards  resulted  in  her  death,  Dickens  wrote:  "God 
knows  how  small  the  world  looks  to  one  who  comes  out  of 
such  a  sick-room  on  a  bright  summer  day." 
Chasing  Shadows. 

Professor  Dugald  Stewart  tells  of  a  bright  youth  of  his 
acquaintance  who  spent  fifteen  years  in  training  himself  to 
balance  a  broomstick  on  his  chin! 

Learning  Cannot  Satisfy. 

Solomon  was  one  of  the  largest  contributors  to  the  litera- 
ture of  the  day.  The  man  w-ho  tries  to  make  learning  and 
science  his  God  has  a  life  of  gigantic  wretchedness.  Byron 
had  all  that  genius  and  sympathy  with  nature  and  literary 
applause  could  give  a  man,  and  yet  he  died  of  wretchedness. — 
Talnmge. 

Love  Crowded  Out. 

The  case  of  a  man  whose  friendship  I  prized  in  early  life  is 
typical  of  those  of  hundreds  who  are  deceiving  themselves  with 


THE  VANITY   OF   A   WORLDLY    LIFE  53 

the  fiction  that  they  are  really  sacrificing  themselves  to  the  interests 
of  their  families.  This  man  married  an  attractive  and'  amiable 
young  woman,  whose  whole  heart  was  given  to  him.  All  went  well 
for  the  first  few  years  after  their  marriage;  but  gradually  the  hus- 
band began  to  stay  a  little  longer  and  yet  longer  in  his  office,  and, 
when  he  came  home  late  in  the  evening,  he  was  apt  to  be  a  little 
more  silent,  a  little  more  self-absorbed  than  had  been  his  wont. 
He  was  not  so  much  interested  in  his  wife's  confidences,  or  so 
responsive  to  her  eflForts  to  draw  his  mind  away  from  business 
cares.  The  prattle  of  the  little  baby  girl  whose  coming  had 
brought  additional  sunshine  to  the  home,  had  no  power  to  divert 
him  from  the  planning  and  scheming  to  enlarge  his  business,  and 
to  make  more  money,  with  which  he  had  been  continually  occupied. 
As  the  years  went  by  he  grew  more  and  more  away  from  youthful 
ideals,  and  more  and  more  wrapped  up  in  his  business.  His  home 
and  wife  and  child  held  but  the  second  place  in  his  heart,  in  spite 
of  his  effort  to  make  himself  believe  the  contrary.  "I  shall  see 
more  of  them  later,"  he  said  to  himself.  "It  is  all  for  their  good. 
It  is  for  them  that  I  want  more  money,  more  power  and  more 
influence.  I  must  put  this  deal  through  before  I  relax  or  all  my 
plans  will  be  overturned."  He  continued  to  deceive  himself  with 
these  sophistries  until  now  he  finds  himself,  in  rrkidldle  life,  almost 
a  stranger  to  his  family.  Their  interests,  tastes,  and  ideals  are 
not  of  his  world.  He  is  unable  to  comprehend  them.  They  have 
grown  away  from  him  into  a  world  which  he  cannot  enter,  while 
he  has  fallen  into  a  rut  from  which  it  seems  impossible  for  him  to 
extricate  himself.  Books  and  music,  and  social  pleasures  have  no 
meaning  for  him.  The  state  of  the  market,  the  rise  and  fall  of 
stocks,  the  fluctuations  of  trade,  the  conditions  of  the  money  mar- 
ket— these  are  the  only  things  that  appeal  to  him,  the  only  things 
he  understands.  At  times  he  is  shaken  by  a  fear  of  physical  col- 
lapse. The  constant  strain  on  his  nerves  is  beginning  to  tell  on 
him.  His  mind  is  not  so  keen  and  alert  as  it  once  was ;  he  is  no*- 
so  calm  or  self -controlled,  and  his  luxurious  home  affords  no 
cessation  of  care  to  this  slave  of  Mammon.  Delving  in  the  same 
rut  continually  has  made  him  a  mere  machine,  and  for  want  of 
lubrication  it  is  wearing  out  prematurely. — Success. 


54  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Holding  Fast  to  Both  Worlds. 
"Do  you  know  what  it  is?"  M,  de  Lamennais  said  on  one 
occasion  to  his  pupils,  "which  makes  man  the  most  suffering  of  all 
creatures  ?  It  is  that  he  has  one  foot  in  the  finite  and  the  other  in 
the  infinite,  and  that  he  is  torn  asunder,  not  by  four  horses,  as  in 
the  horrible  old  times,  but  between  two  worlds." 

Spiritual  Icebergs. 
Icebergs  are  always  a  menace  to  trans-Atlantic  lines  bound  to 
Atlantic  coast  ports.  The  cold  June  which  we  experienced  last 
year  was  caused  by  icebergs  appearing  much  further  south  than 
at  other  more  normal  seasons.  Wireless  apparatus  installed  on 
most  of  the  trans-Atlantic  passenger  liners  has  proved  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  steamships,  in  enabling  them  to  transmit  to  one 
another  the  location  of  icebergs  or  derelicts  seen  in  their  paths. 
But  what  is  to  be  said  of  the  spiritual  icebergs  in  our  churches? 
Like  the  iceberg  in  mid-ocean,  you  can  detect  their  presence  by 
the  chilliness  around  them.  They  move  so  slowly  in  spiritual  mat- 
ters that  they  give  everything  a  cold  chill.  The  pastor  and  church 
officers  usually  know  where  these  spiritual  icebergs  are.  They  are 
the  most  dangerous  obstacles  in  the  progress  of  the  church.  Ice 
is  one  of  the  most  gracious  gifts  of  God  to  man,  but  there  are 
places  where  it  is  out  of  place.  A  heated  furnace  in  the  cellar  can 
never  melt  icebergs  in  the  pew.  The  gospel  alone  can  melt  cold, 
worldly  natures  and  subdue  the  pride  and  self-complacency  of  the 
heart. — Wm.  Barnes  Lower. 

What  Shall  it  Profit? 
Speaking  of  the  bridal  procession  of  Anne  Boleyn,  Mr.  Froade 
says:  "Glorious  as  the  spectacle  was,  perhaps;  however,  it  passed 
unheeded.  Those  eyes  were  watching  all  for  another  object  which 
now  drew  near.  In  the  open  space  behind  the  constable,  there  was 
seen  approaching  a  white  chariot,  drawn  by  two  palfreys  in  white 
damask  that  swept  the  ground,  a  golden  canopy  borne  above  it 
making  music  with  silver  bells ;  and  in  the  chariot  sat  the  observed 
of  all  observers,  the  beautiful  occasion  of  all  this  glittering 
homage;  fortune's  plaything  of  the  hour,  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land— queen  at  last — borne  along  upon  the  waves  of  this  sea 
of  glory,  breathing  the  perfumed  incense  of  greatness,  for  which 


THE  VANITY   OF   A  WORLDLY   LIFE  55 

she  had  risked  her  fair  name,  her  delicacy,  her  honor,  her  self- 
respect,  to  win ;  and  she  had  won  it." 

Halfway  Christians. 

We  were  at  the  house  of  a  friend  lately,  with  whom  we  were 
dining.  There  was  an  old  colored  house  servant  in  the  dlining 
room  to  whom  we  spoke  after  dinner.  In  other  years  we  had 
known  him  for  a  Christian,  "Well,  Henry,  how  is  it  with  your 
soul?    Are  you  in  health?" 

The  answer  was:  "Well,  sir,  Fm  keeping  'long,  ust  keeping 
'long,  sir." 

"But,  Henry,  are  you  serving  the  Lord?" 

"Well,  sir,  I'se  going  through  de  motions.  I'se  going  through 
de  motions,  sir," 

We  put  both  questions  to  him  over  again,  only  in  different 
form,  but  the  only  answer  we  could  get  out  of  the  old  man  was, 
"I'm  keeping  'long;"  and  "I'se  going  through  de  motions." 

We  thought  afterwards  if  all  who  confess  Christ  should  make 
similarly  honest  answers  whether  many  would  not  have  to  say  the 
same  thing.  But  can  it  be  true  that  any  child  of  God  is  "just 
keeping  along?"  If  we  are  not  growing  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  are  we  "keeping  along?"  Can  a  Chris- 
tian cease  to  grow  and  not  begin  to  die?  We  know  very 
well  that  as  soon  as  a  tree  ceases  to  make  new  wood, 
and  put  forth  new  twigs,  it  has  begun  to  die.  Is  it  other- 
wise with  a  Christian?  We  trow  not.  Moreover,  going  through 
the  motions  is  not  worshiping  God.  There  is  somewhere  in  the 
Bible  something  said  about  these  "people  who  draw  nigh  to  me 
with  their  lips,  but  whose  hearts  are  far  from  me."  This  is  to  go 
through  the  motions  of  prayer  without  praying.  To  go  to  church 
and  maintain  an  outward  show  of  worship,  is  not  to  serve  the 
Lord.  Brother!  Sister!  How  is  it  with  you?  Are  you  growing 
in  grace,  or  are  you  just  "keeping  along,"  which  is  to  be  deter- 
iorating? Are  you  serving  the  Lord  with  glad,  happy  and  willing 
hearts,  or  are  you  just  going  through  the  motions?  Alas!  that  the 
Master  of  the  house  should  come  suddenly  and  find  us  in  such  a 
case.  Alas !  that  he  should  tarry,  leaving  us  in  charge  with  his 
talents  and  his  estates  here,  and  we  should  be  such  unfaithful 
servants. — Words  and  Weapons. 


56  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Without  Religion,  Nothing. 

Who  would  want  to  live  in  any  city  if  you  took  the  Christians 
out  of  it?  Some  infidels  founded  a  town  in  Minnesota  a  few  years 
ago,  in  order  to  have  a  town  in  which  the  name  of  God  or  Christ 
should  never  be  mentioned  except  in  terms  of  profanity  and  vul- 
garity. They  hung  Jesus  Christ  in  the  streets  in  effigy,  and  the 
place  was  full  of  blasphemy.  I  had  to  stay  there  all  night  some 
years  ago  in  passing  through  that  region,  and  I  trembled  for  my 
life  while  I  stayed  in  the  best  hotel  in  the  place.  The  town  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  they  tried  to  build  it  up  again.  Then  came 
an  Indian  massacre,  with  an  awful  retribution  of  bloodshed,  and 
they  tried  to  build  it  up  again.  It  was  again  partially  destroyed 
by  fire;  and  at  last,  after  there  had  been  riot  and  bloodshed  and 
anything  but  purity  and  peace  for  years,  the  citizens  of  that  town 
sent  to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  and  said,  "Can  you 
send'  us  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  ?"  And  if  you  were  to  go  there 
today  you  would  not  know  that  community,  with  its  church  spires 
pointing  heavenward,  and  its  children  going  to  Sunday  school  and 
learning  about  Christ.  It  is  almost  as  orderly  there  today  as  in 
any  town  in  the  land,  because  of  the  influence  of  the  church.  Your 
property  would  not  be  worth  having  if  it  were  not  for  Christianity 
in  this  city. — Mills. 


SERVICE  THPEE—Monday  Evening 
Saved  for  Service 

(Office-Bearers'  Consecration  Service) 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  III 


He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise. — Prov.  11:30. 

And  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  (shall 
shine)  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever. — Dan.  12:3. 

How  can  I  endure  to  see  the  destruction  of  my  kin- 
dred?— Esther  8:6. 

He  which  converteth  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his 
way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  hide  a 
multitude  of  sins. — James  5:20. 

Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  compel 
them  to  come  in. — Luke  14:23. 

When  I  say  unto  the  wicked  *  *  *  Thou  shalt 
surely  die;  if  thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the 
wicked  *  *  *  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine 
hand. — Esek.  33:8. 

And  they  come  unto  him,  bringing  one  sick  of  the 
palsy. — Mark  2:3. 

Here  am  I ;  send  me. — Isa.  6 :8. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise. — Prov.  1 1 :30. 

1.  Soul-winning  means  soul-health  for  the  winner. 

2.  Inestimable  blessings  for  those  won. 

3.  Fellowship  with  Christ  in  service. 

And  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  (shall  shine)  as  the 
stars  for  ever  and  ever. — Dan.  12:3. 

1.  A   glorious  vocation — turning  men  to  righteousness. 

2.  Large  results  possible ;  "many." 

3.  An  everlasting  reward.    "Shine  as  the  stars  forever." 

How  can  I  endure  to  see  the  destruction  of  my  kindred? — 
Esther  8 :6. 

1.  Near  and  dear  ones  are  in  spiritual  peril. 

2.  Common  instincts  of  humanity  should  awaken  anx- 

iety for  them. 

3.  Apprehension     should    lead    to     definite     effort    for 

averting  the  approaching  calamity. 

He  which  converteth  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way 
shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  hide  a  multitude  of 
sins. — James  5  :20. 

1.  Possible  to  divert  men  from  the  pathway  to  destruc- 

tion. 

2.  The  immeasurably  great  results  of  success. 

3.  A  challenge  to  zeal. 

Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to 
come  in. — Luke  14  -.IZ. 

1.  The  unresponding  multitudes. 

2.  Aggressive  evangelism  needed. 

3.  The  effective  compulsion  of  loving  solicitude. 

When  I  say  unto  the  wicked  *  *  *  thou  shalt  surely  die; 
if  thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the  wicked  *  *  *  his  blood  will 
I  require  at  thine  hand. — Ezek.  33:8. 

1.  Impending  doom  proclaimed. 

2.  Commissioned  to  be  rescuers. 

3.  Dereliction  incurs  blood-sfuiltiness. 


60  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

And  they  come  unto  him,  bringing  one  sick  of  the  palsy.— 

Mark  2:Z. 

1.  Yoke-fellows  in  soul-winning. 

2.  Christ's  sympathetic  response   to  spiritual  effort. 

3.  Christ  ready  to  heal  the  souls  we  may  bring  to  him. 

Here  am  I;  send  me. — Isa.  6:8. 

1.  God  works  through  human  agents. 

2.  Volunteers  are  needed. 

3.  The  rich  rewards  of  faithful  service. 


SUGGESTIONS 

Measured  from  a  human  standpoint,  this  service  may  well  be 
looked  upon  as  having  the  deepest  significance  and  exerting  a 
wider  influence,  than  any  other  service  of  the  series. 

The  writer  has  used  the  following  method  frequently  with  the 
best  results :  Announce  that  the  service  is  restricted  to  those  hold- 
ing official  positions  in  the  congregation  and  its  allied  organiza- 
tions. This  will  include  the  pastor ;  all  church  officers ;  the  of- 
ficers and  teachers  of  the  Sunday  school ;  the  officers  and  com- 
mittee chairmen  of  the  Women's  Missionary  Society,  Young 
Peoples'  Society,  Men's  Organization,  Aid  Society,  etc. 

Write  cut  and  number  all  names  mcluded  in  the  list.  Find  the 
total  number,  and  have  a  room  seated  with  exactly  that  number  of 
chairs.  Or,  if  it  is  necessary  to  use  the  main  auditorium,  number 
the  seats  to  be  set  asidle.  Announce  this  fact,  and  emphasize  the 
thought  that  there  will  be  a  seat  reserved  for  each  office 
bearer,  to  be  occupied,  or  left  vacant  if  any  fails  to  be  present. 

Open  the  service  with  a  few  earnest  prayers,  selecting  before- 
hand those  who  are  to  offer  them,  and  informing  them  of  the 
fact.  Follow  these  with  a  strong,  direct  talk  on  the  evening's 
topic,  "Saved  for  Service  in  Soul-winning."  Emphasize  the 
special  responsibility  of  those  who  hold  office. 

Have  a  list  of  "availables," — those  in  the  community  who  are 
not  professed  followers  of  Christ,  and  who  are  within  the  sphere 
of  your  influence.  Read  this  list,  call  for  prayers  for  those  on  it; 
and  then,  going  over  the  names  one  by  one,  ask  all  of  those  present 
to  volunteer  to  take  one  or  more  names  of  those  to  whom  they  will 
speak  or  write,  urging  Christ's  claims. 

Instruct  them  to  inform  you  of  the  result,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  you  will  follow  up  their  efforts  with  personal  interviews 
wherever  that  seems  desirable.  Do  not  prolong  the  meeting 
unduly. 

Arrange  for  another  meeting  of  this  group,  and  of  any  others 
whom  they  may  influence  to  join  them  (although,  in  the  ordinary 
congregation,  you  will  find  that  by  the  time  you  have  all  who 


62  THE   PASTOP    HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

belong  in  this  office-holdiers'  group,  you  have  included  nearly  all  of 
your  dependable  workers)  on  Saturday  evening  (or  any  conven- 
ient time)  for  a  definite  report  on  each  name,  and  the  suggestion 
of  additional  "availables." 

Concentrate  your  praying  and  planning  upon  this  Monday 
evening  service,  as  its  importance,  under  favorable  circumstances, 
can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It  will  generate  interest,  and  stimu- 
late to  zeal,  prayerful  aggressiveness  and  personal  approach. 
Emphasize  dependence  upon  the  Holy  Spirit,  rather  than  upon 
human  skill  alone. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

It  is  the  Gideon's  band  that  God  chooses  to  do  his  work  for 
him.  These  must  be  brought  out  and  go  alone.  The  multitude  of 
them  who  went  back  from  the  great  army  which  was  mustered  by 
that  famous  captain,  would  have  only  impeded  the  work  and  per- 
haps created  a  panic  in  the  hearts  of  the  true-hearted,  had  they 
gone  down  with  them  into  the  valley  of  battle. 

We  shall  never  reach  the  non-churchgoers  until  we  have  called 
out  a  consecrated  host,  no  matter  how  small,  from  the  unconse- 
crated  and  unconverted  mass  of  churchgoers.  Here  is  where  the 
work  must  begin. — Selected. 

Dr.  Cameron  Lees  in  his  Life  and  Conduct  observes:  "The 
greatest  works  that  have  been  done  have  been  done  by  the  ones. 
No  learned  society  discovered  America,  but  one  man,  Columbus. 
No  parliament  saved  English  liberties,  but  one  man,  Pym.  No 
confederate  nation  rescued  Scotland  from  her  political  and  eccles- 
iastical enemies,  but  one  man,  Knox.  By  one  man,  Howard,  our 
prisons  were  purified.  By  one  woman,  Miss  Nightingale,  our  dis- 
graceful nursing  system  was  reformed.  By  one,  Clarkson,  the 
reproach  of  slavery  was  taken  away.  God  in  .all  ages  has  blessed 
individual  effort,  and  if  we  are  strong  enough  to  take  up  any 
special  line  of  benevolent  Christian  work  that  seems  open  to  us,  we 
should  not  shrink  from  it."  Let  us  never  forget  Christ's  words, 
"Alone,  yet  not  alone,  for  the  Father  is  with  me."  There  is  a 
splendid  spiritual  culture  and  training  in  this  high  consciousness. 

It  is  only  when  a  living  soul  is  behind  truth  that  it  has  power. 

The  price  of  great  victories  is  great  surrender — surrender  of 
ease,  of  natural  inclination,  of  everything  that  interferes  with  the 
one  great  thing  we  do. 

The  only  royal  road  is  the  one  which  bears  the  mark  of  a  pierced 
foot. 

If  we  are  to  have  power  with  God  and  men,  we  must  pay  the 
price  in  self-denying  service. 

Never  until  one  realizes  the  value  of  a  soul  and  the  price  at 
which  it  was  purchased,  and  never  until  a  love  as  intense  and  per- 


64  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

sonal  as  that  of  a  brother  burns  in  our  soul,  shall  we  be  much  used 
in  the  saving  of  the  lost. 

If  you  do  not  care  for  men,  and  "care  to  care,"  you  cannot  speak 
the  word  with  power. 

Only  the  man  with  the  yearning  soul  is  of  any  account  with  the 
evangel. 

Before  one  can  preach  an  evangelistic  sermon,  he  must  have  an 
evangelistic  heart. 

The  cross  still  conquers  men,  and  he  who  will  climb  to  it  for  the 
love  he  has  will  find  a  crown  upon  the  rugged  bars. — Pastoral  and 
Personal  Evangelism. 

All  come  not  home  at  night  who  suppose  they  have  set  their 
faces  heavenward.  It  is  a  woeful  thing  to  die,  and  miss  heaven. 
How  many  a  mere  professor's  candle  is  blown  out  and  never 
lighted  again !  I  see  ordinary  profession,  and  to  be  ranked  among 
the  children  of  God,  is  now  thought  enough  to  carry  professors 
to  heaven;  but  certainly  a  name  is  but  a  name^  and  will  never 
endure  the  blast  of  God's  storm. — Selected. 

The  most  effective  cause  and  reason  for  remarkable  conversions 
is  prayer.  It  is  the  mighty  connecting  link  that  brings  the  spirit 
into  communication  with  the  hardest  men  and  women.  Charles  G. 
Finney  said  there  were  three  requisites  to  a  great  revival  of 
religion:  devout  prayer,  house-to-house  visitation,  and  personal 
contact  of  Christians  with  their  fellow  men.  I  have  seen  these 
successful  in  bringing  the  hardest  and  most  indifferent  men  to 
Christ,  when  it  seemed  that  all  other  plans  and  methods  had  failed. 
— Selected. 

"I've  done  reiusin'."  These  were  the  words  of  an  aged  Chris- 
tian, who  had  been  unexpectedly  asked  by  his  pastor  to  lead  the 
special  meeting  for  the  evening.  In  commencing  the  services,  he 
stated  that  he  had  not  expected  to  take  charge  of  the  meeting,  and 
so  was  unprepared  to  make  remarks  on  the  topic  before  them. 
"But,"  said  he,  "I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  when  I  am  asked 
to  do  anything  in  Christian  work  by  one  whom  I  have  confidence 
in,  if  he  thinks  it  is  my  duty,  even  if  I  do  not  feel  prepared,  I 
will  try  to  do  it.  I've  done  refusin'."  No  better  opening  for  the 
prayer-meeting  that  night  was  needed.  What  better  key-note 
could  be  found  ?  What  a  difference  would  be  seen  at  once  in  our 


SAVED  FOR  SERVICE  65 

social  meetings,  and  in  every  branch  of  church  work,  if  only  each 
professing  Christian  could  say,  "I've  done  refusin'!" — Congrega- 
tionalist. 

Dr.  Dixon  says  the  parable  of  the  shepherd  is  rendered  like  this 
in  the  conduct  of  many  a  church :  "A  certain  man,  when  he  found 
that  some  of  his  sheep  were  lost,  built  a  handsome  shelter  on  the 
edge  of  the  wilderness  and  over  the  door  wrote  these  words,  'Any 
lost  sheep  straying  near  this  wilderness  hard  by,  if  he  will  present 
his  credentials  and  give  good  references  to  the  committee  in  charge, 
will  be  admitted  to  shelter  after  due  deliberation.' " 

Did  Isaiah  ever  regret  the  hour  in  which  he  answered,  "Here 
am  I;  send  me,  send  me?"  Surely  not.  Not  in  all  his  long  life, 
for  he  ministered  for  many  years,  and  his  ministry  was  brightened 
by  many  a  sight  of  the  diay  of  Christ  which,  though  he  saw  it  afar 
off,  made  him  glad ;  not  while  he  was  laboring  on  earth,  sustained 
and  enlightened  by  the  spirit  of  God ;  not  even  when  he  came  to 
die  a  martyr's  death.  And  now  when  among  those  that  have 
turned  many  to  righteousness  he  looks  back  over  the  checkered 
pilgrimage,  do  you  think  there  is  a  moment  that  stands  out  brighter 
in  his  recollection  than  that  happy  moment  when  with  his  whole 
soul  he  said,  "Here  am  I ;  send  me,"  and  God  accepted  him  and 
said,  "Go?" — /.  G.  Cunningham. 

You  know  that  his  service  is  various  enough  to  have  a  place 
that  you  are  fitted  to  occupy,  that  his  service  is  needy  enough  to 
demand  your  help,  and,  finally,  that  it  is  resourceful  enough  to  be 
able  to  dispense  with  your  help.  Such  is  the  state  of  the  case. 
You  are  responsible  only  for  being  a  willing,  zealous,  industrious 
servant — intelligent,  withal,  according  to  the  measure  of  your  talent 
in  capacity  and  in  opportunity. — Selected. 

Men  who  can  persistently  resist  the  tender  pleadings  of  the 
spirit,  the  love  of  a  Savior,  and  the  entreaties  of  loved  ones  on 
earth,  are  indeed  hard.  Yet  when  all  other  hopes  of  reaching  them 
are  gone,  there  is  one  promise  to  which  we  can  hold  fast.  "Again 
I  say  unto  you.  That  if  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them 
of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  (Matt.  18:19.)  Again,in  Mark 
11 :24:  "Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  What  things  soever  ye  desire, 
when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  receive  them,   and  ye  shall   have 


66  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

them."  The  first  reference  with  its  "again,"  calls  to  our  minds  that 
God  tells  us  over  and  over  what  he  will  do  if  we  believe,  yet  we 
cannot  take  him  at  his  word.  The  passage  in  Mark  brings  out 
the  idea  that  we  must  desire  in  order  to  pray.  When  we  earnestly 
desire,  we  will  pray;  when  we  pray  believing,  we  shall  receive. — 
Selected. 

It  is  the  life  that  counts  for  or  against  Christ.  Some  one  has 
said,  "There  is  a  gospel  according  to  Matthew  and  a  gospel 
according  to  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  but  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that 
there  is  a  gospel  according  to  you,"  and  if  your  life  does  not  ring 
true  with  the  other  gospels  you  shall  be  called  to  account.  Such 
a  life  can  make  real  havoc  of  the  church. — Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman. 

In  a  little  group  of  men,  leaders  in  the  church,  I  heard  the  ques- 
tion asked,  "What  is  the  weightiest  argument  in  behalf  of  Christ 
today?"  One  of  the  wisest  in  the  group  replied  after  a  moment's 
silence,  "The  weightiest  argument  for  Christ,  and  the  weightiest 
argument  against  Christ  today,  is  the  same  argument — Christians." 
That  is  true.  It  is  what  Peter  means  in  bidding  us  to  walk  care- 
fully in  daily  life  that  we  may  put  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  men. 
It  is  what  Jesus  means  when  he  calls  us  the  light  of  the  world. — 
Cleland  Boyd  McAfee,  D.  D. 

Aversion  to  fanaticism,  with  its  vagaries  and  delusions,  should  not 
lead  us  to  ignore  the  biblical  teaching  or  the  biblical  commandls. 
We  are  not  able  to  attain  in  this  life  to  perfect  holiness  or  to  a  life 
free  from  unconscious  sin.  But  we  are  unquestionably  able  to  rise 
far  above  the  level  of  our  actual  experience  and  conduct  and  to 
come  far  closer  to  the  ideal  standard.  There  are  resources  of  grace 
which  we  do  not  use,  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  we  re- 
fuse, possibilities  of  holy  character  which  we  do  not  seek  to  realize. 

It  is  one  of  the  sins  and  weaknesses  of  the  church  that  her 
members  are  content  to  walk  on  this  lower  level  and  do  not  aspire 
and  rise  to  the  loftier  landing  places  of  light  and  holiness  and 
peace.  Certainly  the  Scriptures  do  not  warrant  this  easy  satisfac- 
tion with  a  half  consecrated  life,  this  stagnation  of  faith  and  love 
and  holy  purpose  in  the  attainments  and  achievements  of  former 
years. — Christian  Observer. 


SAVED   FOR   SERVICE  67 

Is  life  decreasing  or  increasing?  Is  it  growing  richer  or  poorer? 
The  ordinary  cheap  philosophies  assume  that  life  is  like  a  fire 
which  speedily  reaches  the  fullness  of  its  heat,  and  then  fades  and 
fades  fill  it  goes  out.  The  high  philosophy  which  gets  its  light 
from  God  believes  that  life,  as  it  moves  deeper  and  deeper  into 
God,  must  move  from  richness  into  richness  always.  *  *  * 
All  that  we  believe  is  but  the  promise  of  the  perfect  faith.  All  that 
we  do  is  great  with  its  anticipation  of  the  complete  obedience.  All 
that  we  are  but  gives  us  suggestions  of  the  richness  which  our 
being  will  attain.  Those  moments  make  our  real,  effective,  enthus- 
iastic life.  They  create  the  fulfillment  of  their  own  hopes  and 
dreams.  O  cherish  them!  O  believe  that  no  man  lives  at  his  best 
to  whom  life  is  not  becoming  better  and  better,  always  aware  of 
greater  and!  greater  forces,  capable  of  diviner  and  diviner  deeds 
and  joys. — Phillips  Brooks. 

The  life  of  faith  follows  the  life  of  obedience ;  it  is  a  step  within 
and  a  step  higher  toward  the  celestial  state.  It  is  characterized  by 
the  recognized  presence  of  the  Lord  in  all  that  one  thinks  and  feels 
and  does.  To  describe  it,  therefore,  is  not  so  much  to  describe 
certain  acts  either  done  or  not  done  in  the  outer  life  as  to  describe 
an  interior  state  which  comes  from  the  recognition  of  the  Lord's 
presence.    This  is  the  life  of  faith. — The  Helper. 

Bishop  Mallalieu  says:  "When  surrender  and  consecration  are 
complete,  and'  the  waiting  heart  receives  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  there  will  come  the  enduement  of  sweetness  and  power,  and 
whatever  our  station,  and  however  humble  our  talents,  whether  our 
days  be  few  or  many,  our  lives  will  not  be  wasted." 

A  holy  life  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  good  things.  Little 
words,  not  eloquent  speeches  or  sermons ;  little  deeds,  not  miracles 
of  battles,  nor  one  great  heroic  act  of  mighty  martyrdom,  make  up 
the  true  Christian  life.  The  little  constant  sunbeam,  not  the  light- 
ning; the  waters  of  Siloam  that  "so  softly"  move  in  the  meek 
mission  of  refreshment,  not  the  "waters  of  the  river,  great  and 
many,"  rushing  down  in  noisy  torrents,  are  the  true  symbols  of  a 
holy  life.  The  avoidance  of  little  evils,  little  sins,  little  inconsist- 
encies, of  little  weaknesses,  little  follies,  indiscretions  and  impru- 
dences, little  foibles,  little  indulgences  of  the  flesh — the  avoidance 


68  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

of  such  little  things  as  these  go  far  to  make  up  at  least  the  negative 
beauty  of  a  holy  life. — Bonar. 

"What  is  it  to  build  on  Christ?"  asks  Dr.  Watkinson.  "It  is  to 
build  a  light-house  on  a  rock.  No  task  in  which  men  can  engage 
demands  more  determination,  courage,  and  sacrifice.  It  is  hard 
work  to  cut  the  rock  and  at  every  step  of  the  building  of  the  noble 
tower  the  masons  have  to  fight  the  thundering  artillery  of  the  sea. 
Such  is  true  building  on  Christ.  We  must  strike  through  the  pride 
of  our  heart,  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  the  opposition  of  the  world  to 
build  on  him,  and  bring  to  perfection  the  solid  masonry  of  a  truly 
spiritual  and  consecrated  life." 

What  is  it  to  buildl  on  the  sand?  It  is  to  build  a  summer  house 
in  the  garden.  This  is  easy  enough.  It  is  easy  to  play  at  church 
rites  and  ceremonies;  it  is  easy  to  piece  together  a  few  virtues  and 
proprieties  to  pacify  society.  But  if  Christ  is  the  architect  of  your 
life,  and  if  you  are  to  build  it  deeply  and  solidly  against  the  day  of 
trial  and  testing,  there  must  be  a  readiness  to  bear  and  suffer  much 
for  his  sake.  There  must  be  self-giving  and  cross-bearing.  As 
in  the  early  centuries  the  Christian  ladies  of  Rome  used  to  have 
the  symbol  of  the  cross  inwrought  in  the  texture  of  their  beautiful 
gowns,  so  that  to  take  out  the  symbol  was  to  destroy  the  fabric, 
so  is  the  cross  interwoven  with  the  very  texture  of  the  Christian 
life. — The  Congregationalist. 

Loyalty  to  Christ  demands  of  us  the  uttermost  of  sincerity  and 
truth  in  all  our  living.  God  desires  truth  in  the  inward  parts.  Yet 
are  there  not  men  who  claim  to  be  Christians  and  are  living  a  lie? 
There  are  lives  that  are  honey-combed  by  all  manner  of  unfaith- 
fulness, dishonesties,  injustices  and  injuries  to  others  and  by  many 
secret  sins.  What  does  the  lesson  of  loyalty  to  Christ  have  to 
teach  us  about  these  things?  Are  covered  sins  safely  hidden? 
Are  they  out  of  sight  forever  ?  Oh,  no ;  be  sure  your  sin  will  find 
you  out.  The  word  is  not,  "Be  sure  your  sin  will  be  found  out." 
It  may  not  be  found  out  in  this  world,  but  it  will  "find  you  out." 
It  will  plague  you,  spoil  your  happiness,  make  your  life  wretched. 
What  shall  we  do  about  these  wrong  things  we  have  done?  A 
life  of  loyalty  to  Christ  means  a  life  that  is  white,  clean  through 
and  through.  None  can  build  a  beautiful,  shining  character  on 
covered  sins.  Joy  is  part  of  a  complete  Christian  life,  and  no  one 
can  be  joyous  with  sins  concealed  in  his  heart. — /.  R.  Miller. 


SAVED  FOR  SERVICE  69 

And  is  not  this  Christ's  method  in  feeding  the  world  with  gos- 
pel truth?  In  another  place  he  said,  "Give  ye  then,  to  eat."  So  is 
it  when  the  souls  of  men  are  crying  for  food  and  perishing  of  hun- 
ger, Jesus  Christ  says  to  his  disciples,  to  his  church,  "Give  ye 
them  to  eat."  To  India,  starving  for  gospel  bread,  he  points,  say- 
ing, "Give  ye  them  to  eat."  To  China,  Africa,  Japan,  the  islands 
of  the  sea,  he  points,  saying,  "Give  ye  them  to  eat."  Is  not  the 
blessed  missionary  work  of  the  church  a  carrying  out  of  this  very 
method  of  Christ  in  feeding  the  world  with  the  gospel  through 
human  instrumentality  ? — Selected. 

The  life  that  is  only  seen  by  the  eye  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal 
is  very  important.  The  motives  that  prompt  what  we  think  and 
speak  and  do  are  only  known  to  ourselves  and  our  Maker.  The 
heart-life  is  vital.  If  here  at  the  fountain  there  are  defects,  then 
the  whole  life  will  be  damaged.  We  can  never  rise  higher  in  the 
scale  of  moral  excellence  than  the  status  of  our  heart-life.  "What 
a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  This  declaration  of  holy 
writ  is  absolutely  true.  Thought  determines  character.  Character 
settles  destiny.  The  most  careful  cultivation  of  the  heart  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  the  growth  and  development  of  the  virtues  of 
Christian  living.  Our  gaze  should  ever  be  inward.  The  closest 
self-examination  is  demanded.  "Examine  yourselves;  see  whether 
ye  be  in  the  faith,"  should  prompt  us  to  continual  action  in  the 
direction  indicated.  There  are  certain  uprisings  of  our  nature 
within  that  can  easily  be  controlled  if  we  only  exercise  the  precau- 
tion necessary  and  earnestly  seek  the  help  that  comes  from  God. 
A  sacred  treasure  has  been  committed  unto  us  and  it  must  be 
safely  guarded.  Out  of  the  heart  the  life  flows.  The  stream  may 
be  clear  and  bright  and  sparkling,  or  the  reverse,  as  we  may  will. 
Can  anything  demand  of  us  more  careful  consideration  than  the 
inner  life?    Reader,  think  on  these  things. 

Holiness  of  heart  leads  to  holiness  of  life.  The  heart  must  be 
cleansed  of  all  impurity  if  the  life  shall  be  pure.  No  doubt  can 
arise  in  the  mind  of  any  right-thinking  person  concerning  the 
rightfulness  of  this  position.  It  admits  of  no  controversy.  It  is  a 
proposition  the  statement  of  which  carries  conviction  to  all.  We 
are  fearful  that  many  fail  to  look  at  this  matter  in  the  proper  light. 


70  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Turn  the  light  in  on  your  heart.  Make  a  close  inspection.  Resolve 
that  my  heart  shall  be  clean  of  all  sin  and  that  my  life  shall  be 
holy. 

Supreme  satisfaction  in  the  service  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
only  possible  where  such  conditions  prevail.  It  may  cost  you  self- 
denial.  It  may  mean  the  crucifixion  of  certain  things  that  you 
imagine  add  pleasure  to  your  life,  but  you  can  never  attain  unto 
that  blessed  spiritual  realization,  where  all  your  heart's  desires  are 
fixed  on  things  above,  until  you  shall  bring  your  heart  under 
supreme  control  to  the  highest  law  of  its  best  being. — Baltimore 
Methodist. 

You  all  know  Ary  Scheflfer's  beautiful  picture  of  Dante  and 
Beatrice.  Surely  it  teaches  us  a  lesson  if  we  would  be  guides  of 
others.  The  heavenly  guide  is  leading  on  her  earthly  disciple,  who 
is  gazing  up  intently  into  her  face.  But  where  are  her  eyes  fixed? 
Not  on  him,  but  on  heaven. 

O  my  brothers,  aim  high !  For  the  honor  of  Christ,  for  the  love 
of  the  church,  for  the  salvation  of  the  flock,  for  your  own  soul's 
safety,  aim  high.  Never  rest  satisfied  with  a  low  standard.  Even 
the  world  itself,  in  these  days,  expects  much  of  you.  Take  heed 
unto  the  flock;  take  heed  unto  the  doctrine;  but  first  take  heed 
unto  yourself. — Bishop  U.  W.  Howe,  D.  D. 

The  spiritual  life  must  be  maintained  by  a  constant  and  vigorous 
growth,  otherwise  deterioration  must  ensue.  Grace  can  not  be  held 
in  reserve  for  emergencies  as  bankers  hold  amounts  of  money  in 
reserve  for  unexpected  demands;  but  it  is  given,  rather,  as  God 
gave  manna  to  the  children  of  Israel,  for  present  use.  God  is  no 
spendthrift,  neither  is  he  extravagant  in  the  impartation  of  spirit- 
ual gifts.  He  giveth  more  grace,  but  he  never  gives  a  surplus  of 
grace,  there  will  be  none  to  squander.  If  grace  is  not  utilized,  it 
will  not  be  intrusted  to  the  individual.  How  easily  a  person  may 
backslide ;  how  unconsciously,  as  it  were,  his  strength  and  spiritual 
vitality  may  be  undermined!  It  is  oftentimes  the  "little  foxes" 
that  gnaw  at  the  vine  that  do  the  most  mischief.  It  behooves  each 
Christian  to  be  on  his  guard,  to  be  watchful  and  prayerful,  lest 
like  Samson  in  Delilah's  lap  he  may  be  shorn  of  his  power.  Uncon- 
scious deterioration — what  a  thought!  What  a  possibility!  If  it 
materializes  in  a  Christian's  life,  what  a  calamity !    It  has  captured 


SAVED   FOR   SERVICE  71 

multitudes.  Like  some  members  in  the  Galatian  church,  they  "ran 
well  for  a  time,"  but  finally  lost  their  first  love,  forfeited  their  zeal 
and  earnestness,  by  yielding  to  the  siren  song  of  the  world,  and  to 
apathy,  and  in  consequence  are  shorn  of  their  power.  They  are 
spiritually  diead  while  professing  to  be  alive.  Oh,  yes,  they  may  go 
through  the  performance  of  Christian  duty  automatically,  but  there 
is  no  enjoyment  in  it  for  them,  neither  any  profit  for  any  one  else. 
They  "have  a  name  to  live,"  but  in  truth  they  "are  dead"  practi- 
cally. Of  them  it  can  be  said :  "O  ye  people,  who  hath  bewitched 
you?"  St.  John  says:  "Look  to  yourselves,  that  we  lose  not  those 
things  which  we  have  wrought,  but  that  we  receive  a  full  reward." 
— Evangelical  Messenger. 

If  you  ask  me  what  one  thing  is  most  necessary  for  the  Chris- 
tian worker,  I  answer  unhesitatingly,  personal  holiness.  No  gifts, 
however  brilliant ;  no  labors,  however  diligent,  can  ever  supply  the 
place  of  this.     It  stands  to  reason  it  must  be  so. — Selected. 

"To  get  to  heaven"  is  a  worthy  desire,  but  it  does  not  cover  the 
scope  of  Christianity,  nor  does  it  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  gos- 
pel, nor  meet  the  soul's  needs.  Regardless  of  the  future  rewards 
of  godliness,  holiness  of  heart  and  life  are  profitable  in  all  things 
here,  in  this  world.  The  life  that  is  governed  by  the  principles  of 
godliness  gets  the  best  and  escapes  the  worst  in  this  world.  He 
who  follows  after  righteousness  has  everything  to  gain  and  nothing, 
absolutely  nothing,  to  lose  thereby  in  this  life,  and  besides,  has  the 
promise  of  the  life  which  is  to  come.  It  is  the  promise  of  God 
that  to  those  who  seek  first  his  kingdom  and  his  righteousness  all 
other  necessary  things  shall  be  added.  The  Master  said  that  those 
who  leave  all  for  his  sake  and  the  gospel's  shall  receive  an  hun- 
dred! fold  now,  in  this  time,  and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal  life. 
But  the  emphasis  of  our  godliness  should  be  put  where  it  belongs, 
and  where  Christ  puts  it — not  on  the  hope  and  desire  of  future 
reward — ^but  as  he  says,  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's. — Selected. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  old  Roman  merchants  to  stamp  "sine 
cera"  (without  wax)  upon  their  wares.  It  was  intended  to  convey 
the  idea  that  the  quality  corresponded  with  the  appearance.  "With- 
out wax"  is  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word  sincere.  It  means  that 
one  is  just  what  he  appears,  that  one  is  free  from  hypocrisy,  simu- 


72  THE   PASTOR -HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

lation  and  false  pretense;  that  one  is  honest,  unfeigned)  and  unaf- 
fected; that  one  is  genuine  and  true,  above  bartering  principle,  or 
trafficking  in  truth. 

Sincerity  and  truth  are  peculiarly  and  indissolubly  joined  together. 
Truth  to  any  man  is  his  true  conception  of  things ;  and  to  live  sin- 
cerely is  to  live  true  to  the  truth ;  to  live  in  obedience  and  faithful- 
ness, and  devotion  to  the  truth  he  knows  respecting  God,  and  life, 
and  destiny.  It  is  related  on  good  authority  that  a  hearer  who  had 
certain  skeptical  tendencies  once  said  to  Dr.  McCosh,  "I  do  not 
believe  more  than  half  you  said."  "Very  well,"  replied  Dr. 
McCosh.  "What  are  you  doing  with  the  half  you  do  believe  ?  Are 
you  holding  it  in  righteousness  or  in  unrighteousness?"  This  is 
the  significance  of  any  known  truth  whatsoever;  for  the  question 
ultimately  turns  upon  the  disposition  one  makes  of  the  truth  one 
really  knows.  The  sincere  man  lives  true  to  the  truth  he  knows. 
He  is  faithful  to  that  much  of  the  heavenly  vision. 

Sincerity,  says  Carlyle,  is  the  chief  fact  about  a  man.  That  man 
is  great  indeed  who  holds  the  truth  in  sincerity,  and  who  earnestly 
and  faithfully  lives  it  regardless  of  his  calling  or  station  or  of  what 
the  world  may  say. 

"True  greatness  abides  with  him  alone, 
Who,  in  the  silent  hour  of  ibward  thought, 

Can    still    suspect    and   still    revere   himself, 
In  sincerity  of  heart."— ^^«w. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Now  is  the  Time. 

The  time  for  consecration  is  now.  It  is  a  voluntary  state,  and 
can  be  entered  at  once.  All  our  pretenses  of  preparing  to  begin 
consecrated  lives  are  only  excuses  for  neglecting  a  duty  which  we 
should  discharge  at  once.  All  waiting  for  God  to  do  something 
more  than  he  is  doing,  or  for  others  to  do  so  or  become  different, 
or  for  conditions  to  change,  are  only  makeshifts  seemingly  to 
relieve  you  from  this  most  pressing  obligation.  You  say  the  great- 
est and  the  best  thing  possible  for  you  is  to  have  his  help  now.  He 
will  never  help  you  more  than  he  does  now.  You  say  it  is  a  great 
thing  thus  to  enter  into  a  solemn  dedication  of  your  all  to  God. 
So  it  is,  and  you  should  make  haste  to  do  the  greatest  and  the  best 
thing  possible  for  you,  in  time  or  eternity — "present  your  bodies  a 
living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,"  no  matter  where  you 
are. 

Admiral  Foote,  when  a  midshipman,  while  walking  the  deck  of 
his  vessel  on  a  starless  night  voiced  his  self-consecration  in  the 
words,  "Henceforth  I  live  for  God."  At  that  hour  his  whole  life 
swung  into  line  with  God,  and  so  he  remained  to  the  end  of  his 
useful  career.  On  the  night  of  his  twenty-second  birthday,  Charles 
Kingsley  wrote,  "Before  the  sleeping  earth  and  the  sleepless  sea 
and  stars,  I  have  devoted  myself  to  God,  a  vow  never  to  be 
recalled."  This  personal  consecration  was  the  crisis  in  the  lives  of 
these  great  and  good  men.  It  will  be  the  turning-point  in  yours. 
It  opens  the  heart  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  world  never  looks  to 
one  afterward  as  it  did  before.  Its  deceptions  are  exposed,  and 
the  power  of  its  fascination  is  broken.  The  nearness  and  loving 
mercy  of  God,  the  infinite  value  of  man,  the  heinousness  of  sin, 
and  the  glory  of  salvation  overshadow,  in  their  stupendous  impor- 
tance, all  other  realities.  Your  time  is  now. — De  W.  C.  Hunting- 
ton, D,  D,,  in  "h  the  Lord  Among  Us?" 

He  Gave  Himself. 

Among  the  unknown  whose  very  identity  is  lost  may  be 
mentioned    a    young    man,    who,    considering    what    course    of 


74  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

life  would  open  the  door  for  him  to  do  the  most  good,  adopted 
the  medical  profession,  and,  having  completed  his  studies, 
opened  an  oflice  in  East  Twenty-third  street.  New  York 
City,  giving  his  services  to  the  poor  along  the  East  River. 
One  evening,  just  as  he  was  dressing  for  his  brother's  wedding, 
a  call  came  from  a  contagious  case.  Laying  aside  his  "wed- 
ding garments,"  he  went  at  once  to  the  house  of  misery. 
The  patient  died — the  doctor  was  taken  ill,  and  during  his 
sickness  scores  of  people  knelt  upon  the  sidewalk  fronting 
his  rooms,  praying  for  his  recovery;  and  when  he  died,  1,500 
poor  people  attended  his  funeral,  800  men  walking  in  line, 
every  one  of  whom  either  in  his  person  or  family  had  received 
help  from  the  young  doctor !     What  can  one  man  do ! 

Neglected  Opportunities. 
In  a  certain  city  a  gentleman  of  large  business  interests 
was  converted.  After  his  conversion  he  said  to  us,  "I  have 
often  wondered  why  it  is  that  Christian  people,  if  they  really 
believe  what  they  profess,  show  so  little  interest  to  win  others 
to  Christ.  I  have  a  brother-in-law  who  is  a  minister,  and  who 
spends  his  summer  vacations  with  me.  Yet  in  all  these  years 
that  he  has  been  coming  to  our  home  he  has  never  once 
talked  seriously  with  me  about  giving  myself  to  Christ." 
That  minister,  through  neglect  of  duty,  was  condemned  in  the 
eyes  of  that  unsaved  business  man. — The  Master   Workman. 

She  "Never  Refused  God  Anything." 
Few  women  have  left  as  noble  a  record  as  Florence  Night- 
ingale. Speaking  of  herself,  she  says,  "If  I  could  give  you 
any  information  of  my  life,  it  would  be  to  show  how  a  woman 
of  very  ordinary  ability  has  been  led  by  God,  in  strange  and 
unaccustomed  paths,  to  do  in  his  service  what  he  has  done 
in  her.  And  if  I  could  tell  3'ou  all,  you  would  see  how  God 
has  done  all,  and  I  have  done  nothing.  I  have  worked  hard, 
that  is  all,  and  I  have  never  refused  God  anything." 

The  Shorter  Road  to   Loved   Ones. 
In  an  address  on  "Prayer,"  at  Oxford,  England,  Dr.  Torrey 
said,  "Have  you  loved  ones   out  of   Christ  whom   you   would 
like  to  see  saved?     There  is  a  way  to  reach  them.     'O,  but,' 


SAVED  FOR   SERVICE  7S 

you  say,  'I  do  not  know  where  they  are,  they  may  be  in 
Africa,  India,  or  elsewhere.'  God  knows.  The  shortest  road 
to  India,  to  Africa,  to  Canada,  to  any  corner  of  the  earth,  is 
by  way  of  the  throne.  You  can  put  up  a  prayer  today  in 
Oxford  and  God  can  answer  it  the  same  moment  in  India." 

The  same  evening,  among  the  requests  for  prayer,  was  a 
note  of  thanksgiving  which  strikingly  illustrated  the  truth 
of  Dr.  Torrey's  words.  "On  October  28,  in  the  Drill  Hall, 
Plymouth,  I  sent  you  a  request  for  prayer  to  this  effect,  'A 
father  requests  prayer  for  a  son  in  Canada.'  I  noticed  that 
you  paused  after  reading  it,  as  if  you  did  not  quite  approve 
of  the  request  being  left  so  indefinite.  It  was  purposely  so 
worded  on  account  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  had  not  heard  of 
our  son  since  September  5,  and  were  in  ignorance  as  to  where 
he  then  was.  Will  you  kindly  express  our  thanks  to  God  that 
on  October  29 — the  day  after  the  request  for  prayer  was  heard 
— our  son  again  wrote  from  Winnipeg  to  tell  us  where  he 
was?  We  received  his  letter  exactly  a  fortnight  from  the 
time  we  sent  you  the  request." 

The  Prince  of  Soul-Winners. 
"He  that  believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall 
he  do  also;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do;  because 
I  go  unto  My  Father."  (John  14:12.)  Christ  opened  the 
eyes  of  a  blind  man  and  he  saw  his  father.  You  can  open 
the  eyes  of  a  man's  heart  and  he  shall  see  God.  He  lifted  up 
a  man  who  was  lame;  you  shall  bring  a  man  to  walk  in  the 
ways  of  righteousness.  He  took  a  young  man  by  the  hand 
and  raised  him  up  from  his  bier.  If  you  are  filled  with  the 
Spirit  of  God,  you  can  bring  a  man  up  from  the  death  of  sin 
into  the  life  of  God.  It  is  a  greater  work  than  Jesus  Christ 
did  when  he  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man. — Alexander  Mc- 
Kensie. 

The  Noblest  Work. 

Rowland   Hill   once    introduced    Dr.    Jenner,   the    discoverer 

of   vaccination,    to   a    nobleman,    thus,    "Allow    me    to    present 

to  your  lordship  my  friend,  Dr.  Jenner,  who  has  lately  been 

the  means  of  saving  more  lives  than   any  other   man."    The 


76  THE   PASTOR- HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

good    physician    bowed    ana    replied    with    great    earnestness, 
"Oh,  sir,  would  that,  like  you,  I   might  save   many  souls." 

Zeal. 

You  may  have  read  the  story  of  the  young  Japanese  who, 
some  years  ago,  found  a  little  slip  from  the  Bible  that  told 
about  God.  He  went  back  to  Japan,  and  one  day  he  asked 
some  one  if  he  knew  where  God  was.  This  person  directed 
him  to  a  dock  where  there  was  an  American  ship,  and  told 
him  that  the  Americans  could  tell  him  about  God.  He  asked 
the  captain,  who  was  not  a  Christian  man,  but  the  owner  was, 
and  the  captain  sent  him  to  the  owner.  The  latter  said  that 
he  could  not  tell  him  much  about  the  matter,  but  if  he  would 
ship  with  him  as  a  sailor  he  would  take  him  to  the  United 
States,  and  place  him  in  care  of  a  man  who  believed  in  God 
and  would  tell  him  about  him.  The  young  man  went  with 
the  owner  to  Boston,  and  his  search  for  God  was  so  earnest 
that  the  owner  placed  him  in  an  institution  for  education. 
He  is  now  one  of  the  most  distinguished  teachers  in  Japan. 
How  earnest  was  that  young  man's  search! 

I  have  thought  how  much  sympathy  Socrates,  and  some  of 
those  great  men  of  ancient  times,  deserve.  Instead  of  looking 
down  upon  them  as  if  they  were  hardly  worthy  of  our  atten- 
tion, they  look  to  me  like  people  groping  in  a  cellar  and 
inquiring,  "Where  shall  I  find  him  whom  my  soul  desires?" 
As  they  are  walking  through  the  darkness  I  think  their  eyes 
are  directed  toward  a  lamp,  and  as  they  are  drawn  toward  it, 
they  see  that  it  is  held  up  by  a  pierced  hand.  A  voice  says, 
"I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life:  no  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father,  but  by  me."     "Show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us." 

Wafted   Perfume. 

A  missionary  gives  the  following  as  one  trophy  of  Divine 
grace  in  China: 

A  woman  was  brought  to  a  hospital  for  treatment,  having 
an  incurable  disease.  She  was  ignorant  of  her  physical  dan- 
ger, she  was  ignorant  also  of  the  great  salvation.  Her  gentle 
nurse  hastened  to  tell  her  the  "old,  old  story  of  Jesus  and 
his  love."  It  was  new  and  wonderful  to  this  heathen  mind, 
but   she   at   once   believed    the   good   news   and   accepted   the 


SAVED  FOR  SERVICE  17 

freely  offered  salvation.  Then  she  was  eager  to  go  to  her 
friends  with  this  glad  message  of  the  Savior's  love.  She  said 
to  her  attendant: 

"Will  you  ask  the  doctors  how  soon  I  shall  be  well?" 

Her  friend  returned  with  the  message: 

"The  doctors  say  that  they  must  tell  you  the  truth — ^you 
will  never  be  well." 

"Please  ask  them  how  long  I'll  live." 

The  reply  was,  "Three  months,  with  the  care  and  comforts 
with  which  you  are  now  surrounded." 

"And  how  long  shall  I  live  if  I  go  to  my  old  home  with  the 
blessed  message  from  heaven?" 

"Possibly  not  more  than  three  weeks." 

When  the  answer  came  this  new  convert  exclaimed,  "Get 
my  clothes ;  I  will  start  today." 

Expostulation  was  useless,  for  she  argued:  "Do  you  think 
I  count  the  loss  of  a  few  weeks  of  my  life  anything  when  I 
have  such  good  news  to  tell  my  people  who  have  never  heard 
of  the  Savior,  and  who  will  be  lost  if  they  do  not  know?" 

Where  the  Fire  Was  Burning. 

Dr.  John  Robertson  tells  of  a  Scotch  village  where,  years 
ago,  all  the  hearthlires  had  gone  out.  It  was  before  the  days 
of  matches.  The  only  way  to  rekindle  the  fires  was  to  find 
some  hearth  where  the  fire  was  ye*t  aglow.  Their  search  was 
fruitless  until  at  last  they  found  a  flaming  hearth  away  up  on 
the  hill.  One  by  one  the)'-  came  to  this  hearth  and  lighted 
their  peat,  put  it  carefully  in  the  pan,  shielding  it  frora  the 
wind,  and  the  fires  were  soon  burning  again  throughout  the 
community. 

Are  the  fires  getting  low  in  your  heart?  Has  the  chill  of 
worldliness  settled  down  upon  you?  God  has  plenty  of  fire  on 
the  hill.  Climb  up  into  his  presence  through  the  path  of  sur- 
render, and  he  will  take  the  live  coal  frora  the  altar  and  lay  it 
upon  your  heart  and  upon  your  lips.  This  is  the  fullness  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.    This  is  the  passion  for  souls. 

The  Difference. 

A  young  Jewess  who  is  now  a  Christian  asked  a  lady  who 
had  instructed  her  in  the  gospel  to  read  history  with  her.     "Be- 


78  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

cause,"  said  she,  "I  have  been  reading  the  gospels  and  I  am 
puzzled.  I  want  to  know  when  Christians  began  to  be  so  different 
from  Christ." — Hugh  Black. 

Soul- Winning  Character. 
The  African  traveler,  H.  M.  Stanley  said,  "In  1877  I  went  to 
Livingstone  as  prejudiced  as  the  biggest  atheist  in  London.  To  a 
reporter  and  correspondent  such  as  I,  who  had'  only  to  deal  with 
wars,  mass-meetings  and  political  gatherings,  sentimental  matters 
were  entirely  out  of  my  province.  But  there  came  for  me  a  long 
time  for  reflection.  I  was  out  there  away  from  a  worldly  world. 
I  saw  this  solitary  old  man  there  and  asked  myself,  'How  on  earth 
does  he  stop  here?  Is  he  cracked,  or  what?  What  is  it  that 
inspires  him?'  For  months  after  we  met  I  simply  found  myself 
listening  to  him,  wondering  at  the  old  man  carrying  out  all  that 
was  said  in  the  bible — 'Leave  all  and  follow  me.'  But  little  by 
r*tle  his  sympathy  for  others  became  contagious ;  my  sympathy  was 
aroused;  seeing  his  piety,  his  gentleness,  his  zeal,  his  earnestness, 
and  how  he  went  quietly  about  his  business,  I  was  converted  by 
him,  although  he  had  not  tried  to  do  it.  How  sad  that  the  good 
old  man  should  have  died  so  soon !  How  joyful  he  would  have 
been  if  he  could  have  seen  what  has  since  happened  there." 

That's  Different. 
There  is  a  story  told  of  a  somewhat  eccentric  preacher  who  was 
driving  along  a  country  road  when  he  was  attracted  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  farmhouse.  Its  whole  air  was  so  peaceful  that  it  looked! 
like  an  ideal  abode.  It  occurred  to  him  that,  fair  as  it  seemed,  it 
might  still  be  lacking  in  that  which  was  most  essential,  so  leaving 
his  carriage  he  went  to  the  door.  A  middle-aged  woman  answered 
the  summons,  and  he  propounded  his  question  without  hesitation, 
"Madam,  does  Jesus  Christ  live  here?"  The  woman  started,  but 
though  he  repeated  his  inquiry  he  received  no  answer,  and'  when 
he  had  gone  she  ran  out  where  her  husband  was  chopping  wood, 
and  told  him  of  her  caller.  "Didn't  you  tell  him  we  belong  to 
church?"  demanded  the  old  man.  The  wife  shook  her  head, 
"Didn't  you  tell  him  we  give  money  every  Sunday?"  Again  the 
gray  head  made  its  negative  reply.  "'Twasn't  anything  like  that 
he  wanted  to  know,  John.  He  wanted  to  know  if  Jesus  Christ 
lives  here, — ^that's  different." — Forward. 


SAVED  FOR  SERVICE  79 

"Mother,  Here's  George." 

Chaplain  McCabe  had  a  brother  who,  after  forty  years  of  thral- 
dom to  strong  drink,  was  finally,  through  the  faith  and  love  and 
perseverance  of  his  hopeful  brother,  redeemed  from  the  sad  slavery. 
The  chaplain  used  to  say,  "When  I  get  to  heaven,  I  am  going 
to  take  my  brother  by  the  hand  and  lead  him  up  to  my  mother 
and  say :  'Mother,  here's  George ;  I  have  brought  him  home !' " 
Nothing  will  save  a  vast  multitude  of  men  unless  their  fellows,  in 
love  and  faith,  help  them  to  fight  their  battles  through  to  a  victory. 
— The  Brooklyn  Eagle. 

Where  to  Begin. 

Sometimes  people  ask  me  where  I  would  like  to  commence  in 
the  preaching  at  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  services  like  these. 
Would  I  rather  preach  to  a  mixed  audience  of  men  and  women, 
young  and  old,  those  who  are  members  of  the  church  and  those 
who  are  not,  or  would  I  rather  select  some  special  class  and  preach 
at  first  to  them?  As  God  hears  me,  I  have  commenced  with 
myself,  I  do  not  propose  to  say  one  word  to  you  that  I  shall  not 
take  home  to  my  own  heart  and  experience.  "Search  me,  O  God, 
and  know  my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts :  and  see  if 
there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  ever- 
lasting." Great,  gracious  God,  let  this  work  of  grace,  for  which 
we  hunger,  be  commenced  just  now,  and  in  my  heart!  Have  we 
indeed  given  ourselves  unto  God?  Are  we  dead  to  self,  to  pride, 
to  unholy  ambition?  Brother,  sister,  named  with  the  name  of 
Christ,  you  who  have  called  us  to  be  your  helpers  in  the  endeavor 
to  turn  men  unto  righteousness,  and  to  whom  we  have  come  with 
willing  footsteps,  have  you  first  given  yourselves  unto  the  Lord'? 
Will  you  do  it  now?    Will  you  do  it  now? — Mills. 

Some  Conditions  of  Success. 

An  aroused  church  membership  will  give  us  a  redeemed  con- 
tinent. 

The  world  must  be  won  man  by  man.  The  personal  touch  is 
always  the  touch  of  power. 

Only  he  who  has  felt  the  tongue  of  fire  is  able  to  speak  the 
words  that  burn. 


eO  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Seed  Slow  to  Germinate. 

A  prominent  Minneapolis  lawyer  was  converted  a  few  years 
ago.  Two  weeks  afterward,  from  the  platform  of  the  Swed- 
ish Tabernacle,  he  related  his  experience.  Fifteen  years  before 
his  conversion,  with  a  friend,  he  had  attended  a  revival 
meeting.  During  the  service  a  timid  young  lady  came  down  the 
aisle  and  said  to  his  friend,  "Have  you  found  Jesus?"  His 
friend  blasphemously  answered:  "I  didn't  know  he  was  lost," 
and  laughed  in  her  face.  The  young  lady  turned  away  with 
a  look  of  horror.  But  Mr.  Arctander  says  that  for  fifteen 
years  that  young  lady's  question,  "Have  you  found  Jesus?" 
followed  him,  until  at  last  he  yielded  to  God. — 7.  H.  Mahood. 
No  Reservations. 

A  young  pastor  said,  "I  used  to  wonder  why  my  ministry 
was  void  of  power.     I  prayed  that  God  would  use  me,  but  all 
my   efforts  were   like  beating  the   air.      Showers   of  blessings 
fell  around  me,  but  they  did  not  come  my  way.    After  a  while 
he  told  me  the  reason.    In  my  heart  was  a  fear  lest  I  might  be 
obliged  to  go  to  the  foreign  field.     Some  of  my  friends  had 
gone.    I  was  not  willing  to  go.    But  I  came  to  the  point  where 
I  could  say,  'O  God,  send  me  to  the  heart  of  Africa,  if  that 
be  thy  will.'     The  cloud  hasn't  moved  3'-et  tow^ard  the  regions 
beyond,  but  the  very  windows  of  heaven  have  been  opened  up- 
on the  little  portion  of  the  field  where  he  calls  me  to  labor." 
Tn  full  and  glad  surrender  we  give  ourselves  to  thee, 
Thine  utterly,  and  only,  and  evermore  to  be! 
O  Son  of  God,  who  lovest  us,  we  will  be  thine  alone. 
And  all  we  are  and  all  we  have  shall  henceforth  be  thine  own. 

Coming  Into  Our  Own. 
An  Italian  painter,  Verrochio,  was  at  work  on  a  great  pic- 
ture, but  because  of  the  infirmities  of  old  age  he  was  not  able 
to  complete  it.  He  urged  his  pupil,  Da  Vinci,  to  undertake  the 
task  of  finishing  it.  The  young  man  shrank  from  the  respon- 
sibility, but  the  old  man  pleaded.  "Do  your  best,  Da  Vinci, 
for  my  sake,"  he  said.  The  young  man  undertook  the  work, 
and  did  his  best  for  his  master's  sake.  With  the  effort  came  a 
new  sense  of  responsibility.  He  became  conscious  of  new 
powers  and  aspirations.     Genius  was  awakened.     The  picture 


SAVED   FOR   SERVICE  81 

completed  was  a  triumph  of  art,  and  the  old  man  wept  for 
joy.  There  are  spiritual  powers  and  gifts  in  our  heaven-born 
nature  of  which  we  will  never  be  sensible  until  we  come  to  a 
clear  consciousness  of  our  ambassadorship. — Advocate. 

Hindered   Ministry. 

In  olden  days,  amid  the  Roman  forum,  there  was  a  litt'fe 
brooklet,  called  the  Girls'  Fountain,  which  sang  merrily  as  it 
broke  into  the  light,  and  passed  on  its  way  towards  the  yellow 
Tiber.  For  centuries,  however,  it  was  lost  sight  of;  not  that 
it  had  ceased  to  exist  but  that  it  had  become  covered  and 
almost  choked  by  tons  of  rubbish,  accumulated  thickly  on 
the  spot,  as  the  proud  city  was  subjected  to  repeated 
and  ruthless  violence  at  the  hands  of  many  spoilers.  But 
when  in  recent  years  the  debris  was  removed,  that  foun- 
tain, so  long  choked  and  hindered,  freed  from  all  restraints, 
again  took  up  her  song  and  recommenced  her  useful  min- 
istry. Is  not  that  a  t3'pe  of  the  work  of  the  Mighty  One 
within  us?  He  has  not  left  us;  but  his  gracious  power,  which 
would  have  been  put  forth  in  us  and  for  us,  has  been  rendered 
almost  inoperative  and  dead.  W^hat  now  shall  hinder  us  rid- 
ding ourselver,  of  all  which  has  hindered  him  from  doing  his 
mighty  works  so  that  he  may  do  that  which  he  so  much  loves, 
and  which  we  so  much  need? — F.  B.  Meyer. 

Going  the  "Second  Mile." 

A  missionary  in  Swaziland,  in  South  Africa,  told  a  native 
that  feathers  make  a  good  bed.  The  native  went  to  his  kraal 
and  spread  a  few  feathers  on  a  board,  and  when  he  awoke  the 
next  morning  he  was  stiff  and  sore  and  complained  that  the 
missionary  was  "a  liar."  The  trouble  was  not  in  the  mis- 
sionary, but  in  the  fewness  of  the  feathers.  In  our  Christian 
life  if  we  sow  sparingly  we  reap  sparingl3^  If  we  rob  God  and 
his  poor  of  the  fellowship  that  belongs  to  them,  doing  only 
what  we  must  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  righteousness,  we 
need  not  wonder  if,  at  times,  we  only  have  joy  enough  to  keep 
us  miserable  in  our  souls.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  hilarious 
giving  of  the  second  mile  means  joy  and  victory  in  our  own 
lives,  a  living   fellowship   with   the   Lord,   and   the   gospel   for 


82  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

those  who  will  not  have  it  unless  we  practice  such  giving.    In 
which  mile  do  we  live? — The  Christian  Witness. 

Completed. 

In   the  vestibule  of  a  beautiful   library,   erected   in   memory 
of  a  woman  whose  gentle  face  looks  down  upon  every  one  who 
passes  the  great  doors,  is  a  bronze  tablet  with  these  lines: 
"The  good  she  tried  to  do  shall  stand  as  if  'twere  done: 
God  finishes  the  work  by  noble  souls  begun." 

Only  two  lines,  but  how  clearly  they  tell  the  story  of  that 
life,  of  the  eager  dreaming  and  purposes  of  it,  of  its  unweary- 
ing work,  and  finally  the  resignation  to  the  message  that  the 
task  was  not  for  her.  Was  all  the  life  and  hope  put  into  it 
lost?  The  splendid  building  with  its  open  doors  is  an  eloquent 
answer.     Work  for  God  never  can  be  "lost!" 

Is  there  not  a  comfort  here  for  many  an  humble  soul  who 
sees  the  years  pass  and  apparently  nothing  accomplished  of  all 
their  high  dreams?  We  are  "workers  together  with  God."  We 
may  fail,  but  God  cannot.  And  so,  though  we  can  see  the 
results,  we  can  yet  work  on  with  patience  and  sure  courage. 
Sometime,  somehow,  it  will  all  help.  Over  and  above  and 
through  us  God  is  working,  and  God's  omnipotent  hand  will 
take  every  honest  effort,  no  matter  how  poor  and  blundering 
it  may  be,  and  use  it  for  some  perfect  end. 

Unreserved  Renunciation. 

At  first  when  Francis  of  Assissi  renounced  the  world  and 
sought  to  follow  his  Lady  of  Poverty,  the  people  said  he  was 
assuredly  mad.  He  could  not  wholly  convince  the  people  of 
his  sincerity ;  for  he  had  been  a  rich  young  man.  The  bishop 
finall}''  advised  Francis  to  give  up  all  of  his  property. 

"To  the  great  surprise  of  the  crowd,  Francis,  instead  of 
replying,  retired  to  a  room  in  the  bishop's  palace,  and  imme- 
diately reappeared  absolutely  naked,  holding  in  his  hand  the 
packet  into  which  he  had  rolled  his  clothes.  These  he  laid 
down  before  the  bishop  with  the  little  money  he  still  had  kept, 
saying,  'Listen,  all  of  you,  and  understand  it  well;  until  this 
time  I  have  called  Pietro  Bernardone  my  father,  but  now  I 
desire  to  serve  God.  This  is  why  I  return  to  him  this  money, 
for  which  he  has  given  himself  so  much  trouble,  as  well  as  my 


SAVED  FOR   SERVICE  83 

clothing,  and  all  that  I  have  had  from  him,  for  from  hence- 
forth I  desire  to  say  nothing  else  than  Our  Father  who  art  in 
heaven.' " 

Of  this  act  the  chronicle  says:  "On  that  day  he  won  for 
himself  a  secret  sympathy  in  many  souls."  In  a  few  years  all 
Italy  was  at  his  feet. — Homiletic  Review. 

Dedicated  to  God. 

A  western  country  paper  gives  an  account  of  the  dedication 
to  God  of  a  new  business  block  in  its  town.  The  owner,  who 
is  an  elder  in  a  church,  had  just  completed  building.  At  the 
opening  of  his  business  in  it,  he  gathered  the  members  of 
the  firm,  the  employes  and  their  families,  and  the  minister,  in 
the  early  morning  hour,  and  they  went  through  a  solemn  ser- 
vice of  dedicating  the  house  and  the  business  to  God.  That 
house  and  that  business,  it  is  proposed,  shall  be  used  only  for 
the  glory  of  God.  A  writer  says,  "We  consecrate  ourselves  to 
him  when  we  make  a  public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  and 
promise  to  be  his.  Why  should  we  not  consecrate  our  busi- 
ness enterprise  to  him,  too?"  There  seems  to  be  no  good  rea- 
son why  It  should  not  be  done.  Quietly  and  thoroughly  every 
business  ought  to  be  consecrated  to  God.  "Whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  This  applies  to  selling  goods  as 
well  as  to  preaching  the  gospel. 

Out  On  the  Edge. 

One  day  the  fruit-grower  met  his  friend,  and  on  being 
reminded  of  the  oft-repeated  invitation  given  him,  he  said,  "I 
guess  you  think  my  fruits  are  not  as  fine  as  I  claim  them  to 
be,  and  you  think  it  hardly  worth  your  time  to  visit  me?" 
"Well,"  said  the  friend,  "the  truth  is,  I  was  some  time  ago 
near  your  place  and  drove  by.  Along  the  outside  of  your 
farm  I  noticed  fruit  lying  in  the  grass  that  had  fallen  from 
the  overhanging  branches  and  I  stopped  and  picked  up  some, 
and  sampled  a  number  of  the  trees,  but  every  one  was  poor; 
some  were  sour,  some  were  bitter,  others  tasteless,  and  wormy, 
and,  to  be  honest,  I  just  came  to  the  conclusion  that  you  over- 
rated your  fine  varieties."  With  a  convulsion  of  laughter  the 
fruit-grower  exclaimed,  "My  friend,  I  went  twenty  miles  to 
get  that  fruit  you  ate.    I  bought  the  poorest  I  could  find,  and 


64  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

scattered  it  all  about  my  place,  under  all  the  overhanging 
trees,  so  that  those  who  might  find  it  and  eat  it  would  be  so 
disgusted  that  they  would  not  climb  over  the  hedge  for  the 
fruit,  thinking  that  upon  the  outside  a  fair  sample  of  that 
within."  So  it  is  with  many  who  pass  along  the  edge  of  the 
garden  of  the  Lord.  They  find  a  "thou  shalt  not  do  this,"  and 
a  "thou  shalt  not  do  that,"  and  they  say,  Oh,  that  is  bitter, 
and  that  is  sour.  They  find  a  "thou  shalt  do  this,"  or  a  "thou 
shalt  do  that,"  and  they  say.  Oh,  this  is  wormy,  or  that  is  no 
good,  and,  judging  there  is  nothing  to  be  enjoyed  in  a  conse- 
crated Christian  life,  they  refuse  to  enter  it,  and  so  know 
nothing  of  the  sweet  fruits  the  Master  has  for  them  within. — 
Leaflet. 

Full  Surrender. 
Some  time  ago  a  minister  was  sitting  in  a  congregation  at  a 
service  like  this,  and  God  asked  him  the  question,  "Have  you 
ever  given  yourself  to  me?"  He  had  had  a  somewhat  peculiar 
history.  He  had  been  in  the  theological  seminary  and  gone 
out  to  take  charge  of  a  church.  The  pews  were  filled  and  the 
coffers  were  filled,  but  no  one  turned  to  Christ.  The  young 
pastor  thought  that  he  needed  more  theological  study,  and 
returned  to  the  seminary  for  another  year.  Then  he  tried  the 
experiment  of  pastoral  work  again,  with  the  same  result  as 
before.  He  thought  that  he  probably  needed  more  study,  and 
went  back  again  to  the  seminary,  and  at  this  time  he  was  in 
the  seminary  in  New  York  City,  taking  what  I  think  was  his 
fifth  year  of  special  theological  study.  And  God  wrestled  with 
him  as  he  wrestled  with  Jacob,  and  said,  "Have  you  ever  given 
yourself  to  me?"  He  thought  of  the  needy  mission-field  in 
Brooklyn  that  called  him,  and  God  seemed  to  say,  "Go."  And 
he  said,  "Lord,  you  will  have  to  excuse  me,  as  I  do  not  want 
to  work  in  a  mission-field."  And  he  thought  of  that  other 
parish  that  called  him,  and  God  seemed  to  say,  "Go."  And  he 
said,  "Lord,  that  is  not  exactly  the  denomination  that  I  prefer, 
and  you  will  have  to  excuse  me."  Then  he  thought  of  many 
other  things  in  which  he  had  resisted  God's  will,  and  he  was 
forced  to  answer,  "No,  I  have  never  given  myself  unto  God." 
!And  he  said,  "O  God,  I  will  go  to  the  hotel  where  I  am  stay- 


SAVED   FOR   SERVICE  8S 

ing,  and  there  I  will  bow  myself  before  thee,  and  will  surrend- 
er unto  thee  my  will."  And  then  the  Spirit,  that  always  whis- 
pers just  the  right  word  at  the  right  moment,  said  to  him, 
"Then  why  not  do  it  now?  Why  not  do  it  now?"  until,  moved 
by  that  heavenly  impulse,  he  bowed  his  head  upon  the  seat 
in  front  of  him  and  gave  himself  to  God.  And  he  went  out 
to  a  life  rich  in  fruitage. — Mills. 

The  More  Excellent  Way. 
Is  the  Christian  ideal,  as  often  asserted,  too  high  to  be  prac- 
ticable in  an  age  like  ours?  Passing  over  the  fact  that  this  age 
is  no  worse  than  that  in  which  Christ  saw  fit  to  establish  that 
ideal,  it  is  a  fact  that  ideals  are  most  useful  when  they  are  the 
highest  possible.  An  artist  brought  a  die-cutter  a  design  for 
the  cover  of  a  book.  "You  will  have  to  change  it,"  said  the 
worker  in  brass ;  "it  is  impossible  to  cut  it.  No  man  could 
cut  it."  "I  do  not  think,"  said  the  artist,  kindly,  "that  art 
should  be  subject  to  mechanics.  Just  try  it."  "And  I  did  try 
it,"  said  the  die-cutter,  as  he  gleefully  told  about  it.  "And  I 
succeeded  in  doing  what  the  traditions  of  the  craft  said  was 
impossible."  Jesus  did  not  accommodate  the  truth  to  our 
ideas  of  what  is  possible,  and  we  are  not  helping  men  by  low- 
ering the  bars  for  them.  We  help  men  most  when  we  do  as 
our  Master  did,  persuading  them  to  reach  for  the  highest.  With 
God  all  things  are  possible, — The  Sunday  School  Times, 


SERVICE  FOUR— Tuesday  Evening 
The  Guilt  and  Power  of  Sin 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  IV 

So  then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God. 
—Rom.  8:8. 

The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God. — Rom.  8:y. 

All  unrighteousness  is  sin. — /  John  5:17. 

I  was  afraid     *     *     *     and  I  hid  myself. — Gen.  3:10. 

Who  can  say,  I  have  made  my  heart  clean,  I  am  pure 
from  my  sin? — Prov.  2o:p. 

Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  execut- 
ed speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men 
is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil. — Eccles.  8:11. 

There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one. — Rom.  3:10. 

For  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God. — Rom.  3:23. 

And  this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into 
the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil. — John  3:19. 

Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity. — Ps.  ^1:5 

The  transgression  of  the  wicked  saith  within  my 
heart,  that  there  is  no  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes. 
^Ps.  36:1. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

So  then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God. — Rom. 
8:8. 

1.  Unregenerate  service  unacceptable  to  God. 

2.  Regeneration  offered  to  all  through   Christ. 

3.  I  must  have  the  new  birth  to  live  the  new  life. 

The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God. — Rom.  8 :7. 

1.  Repulses   God's   loving   advances. 

2.  Resists  his  control. 

3.  Shrinks  from  his  holiness. 

4.  Lines  up  with  God's  foes  "against  me." 

All  unrighteousness  is  sin. — 1  John  5:17. 

1.  It  begins  with  a  cherished  thought  of  evil. 

2.  It  finds  expression  in  the  uttered  word. 

3.  It  is  translated  into  evil  deeds. 

I  was  afraid    *     *     *     and  I  hid  myself. — Gen.  3 :10. 

1.  Sin  breeds  guilt — a  sense  of  condemnation. 

2.  Guilt  arouses  fear. 

3.  Guilt  shrinks  from   God — our  only  help. 

4.  Christ  frees  from  guilt ;  reconciles  to  God. 

V/ho  can  say,  I  have  made  my  heart  clean,  I  am  pure  from  my 

sin?— Prov.  20:9. 

1.  Men  prone  to  imagine  that  they  can  save  themselves. 

2.  Self-cleansing  hopeless:     (1)  Testimony  of  the  Bible; 

(2)     Of  daily  experience. 

3.  Christ  can  cleanse  the  sin-stained  heart. 

Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speed- 
ily, therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them 
to  do  evil. — Eccles.  8:11. 

1.  There  are  "hearts  fully  set  to  do  evil:"     (1)   Men  sin 

against  repeated  admonition;  (2)  Against  increas- 
ing light;  (3)  Against  thwarting  providence. 

2.  To  what  may  this  growing  obduracy  be  attributed? 

(1)  Not  ignorance  of  our  nature;  (2)  Nor  of  pen- 
alties; (3)  Nor  doubt  as  to  certainty  of  penalty; 
(4)  Nor  because  penalty  deemed  sHght;  (5)  Nor 
because  they  do  not  wish  and  expect  to  escape; 
(6)  But  because  of  God's  long-suffering  forbear- 
ance. 


90  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one. — Rom.  3 :10. 

1.  Varying  degrees  of  depravity  among  men. 

2.  God's  standard  requires  whole-hearted   love  to  God 

and  man. 

3.  Measured  by  this  all  are  sinners. 

For  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God. — 
Rom.  3:23. 

1.  Man  created  to  glorify  and  praise  God. 

2.  Whatever  else  men  may  be  or  do,  all  have  failed  in 

this. 

3.  In  this  sense  all  stand  on  a  level. 

And  this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world, 
and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds 
were  evil. — John  3 :19. 

1.  The  world  is  under  condemnation. 

2.  Because  of  a  perverted  spiritual  taste, 

3.  Moral  standards  but  the  fruit  of  character.     Seeds 

determine  creeds. 

Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity. — Psalms  51 :5. 

1.  The  generations  closely  linked  together;  evil  cumu- 

lative ;   transmitted   instincts   and   inclinations. 

2.  Early  childhood  gives  evidence  of  sin's  inheritance. 

3.  Only  divine  power  can  uproot  inherited  tendencies. 

"Ye  must  be  born  again;  that  which  is  born  of 
the  fiesh  is  flesh." 

The  transgression  of  the  wicked  saith  within  my  heart,  that 
there  is  no  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes.* — Psalms  36:1. 

1.  The  outer  life  reveals  the  inner  attitude. 

2.  Deliberate     sinning     proves     enmity     to     God.       It 

involves  disobedience,  defiance,  disregard. 

3.  The  life's  record,  the  data  for  the  judgment  record; 

"the  things  done  in  the  body," 


SUGGESTIONS 

Special  stress  should  be  laid  upon  the  after  talks  from  this  ser 
vice  on.     They  should  be  made  very  brief,  but  should  be  giVen  the 
most   careful   preparation.     They   should   drive  home  the   central 
thought  of  the  sermons,  seeking  to  call  forth  decision. 

We  must  ever  keep  in  mind  that  ordinarily  the  obstacle  in  the 

way  of  results  is  the  conflict  of  wills.  The  sinner's  will  resisting 
the  Holy  Spirit's  influence  as  brought  to  bear  by  the  sermon  and 
the  whole  service.  Many  a  man  believes  all  you  say  but  fails  to 
act,  to  decide,  to  surrender.  The  after-talk  is  intended  to  help 
him  reach  the  point  of  action.  It  is  the  Spirit  working  through 
your  will  upon  his. 

If  you  have  members  whose  prayers  are  not  stereotyped  and 
lacking  in  fervor  call  upon  them  for  prayer  at  the  opening  service 
and  after  the  sermon.  Utilize  the  laymen  to  the  utmost,  in 
prayer,  for  leading  the  opening  service,  and  in  personal  work. 

A  personal  workers'  meeting  for  all  interested,  or  whom  you 
can  influence  to  attend,  held  on  several  afternoons,  or  for  a  half 
hour  before  the  evening  service;  or,  better  still,  held  once  or  twice 
a  week  for  a  month  or  two  before  your  -ervices  begin,  will  afford 
valuable  opportunity  for  training  workers. 

Encourage    your    members    to    consult    you    with    reference    to 

j  relatives  or  friends  in  whose  spiritual  welfare  they  are  interested. 

It  will  deepen  their  interest  and  help  them  to  conquer  their  timidity. 

Use  soul-winning  literature  for  stimulating  workers  to  effort. 
There  is  a  long  list  of  booklets  which  can  be  secured  at  a  nominal 
price.  There  are  also  attractive  and  helpful  leaflets,  presenting 
Christ's  claims,  which  will  render  valuable  service  as  silent  evan- 
gelists. 

In  the  after-talks  following  the  sermons  on  sin,  of  this  and 
tomorrow  evening,  it  will  be  well  to  emphasize  Christ  as  the  Savior 
from  sin.    The  sermons  themselves  may  omit  this,  dwelling  wholly 


92  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

on  sins  guilt  and  sin's  wages,  with  the  expectation  of  supplement- 
ing them  briefly  but  fully,  in  the  after-talks,  by  holding  up  Christ 
as  the  sinner's  only  hope. 

Every  minister  needs  occasionally  to  go  back  over  his  sermons 
to  see  if  the  man  who  has  followed  him  through  a  fair  course  of 
time  has  had  a  sight  of  all  great  truths  of  God.  Have  I  declared 
the  whole  counsel  of  God?  I  have  laid  stress  on  the  need  for 
conversion;  have  I  also  built  up  my  people  in  the  constructive 
truths?  I  have  told  them  the  story  of  the  love  of  God;  have  I 
shunned  to  say  any  frank  word  of  the  holiness  of  God?  I  believe 
and  preach  that  God  is  love ;  does  it  seem  impossible  to  preach  also 
that  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire?  Have  I  dealt  with  my  people's 
souls  as  I  would  have  my  own  soul  dealt  with?  Have  I  preached 
in  sight  of  the  judgment? 

I  do  not  find  any  one  who  does  not  say  that  there  is  lack  of  a 
keen  sense  of  sin  among  men  in  these  days.  Some  are  glad  that 
it  is  so,  feeling  that  the  sense  of  the  perfect  life  is  better  than  the 
sense  of  imperfection.  But  most  of  us  do  not  see  that  the  sense 
of  the  perfected  life  has  come  with  the  loss  of  the  sense  of  sin. — 
Cleland  Boyd  McAfee.  D.  D, 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Sin  is  a  debt,  a  burden,  a  thief,  a  sickness,  a  leprosy,  a  plague, 
a  poison,  a  serpent,  a  sting;  everything  that  man  hates,  sin  is.  It 
is  the  sexton  that  digs  his  grave.  It  is  the  murderer  that  destroys 
his  life.  It  is  the  fair  siren  who,  seated  on  the  rock,  by  the  deadly 
pool,  smiles  to  deceive,  sings  to  lure,  kisses  to  betray,  and  flings 
her  arm  around  our  neck  to  leap  with  us  into  perdition. — Guthrie. 

Samuel  Rutherford,  in  some  letters  addressed  to  young  Scotch- 
men, often  enlarges  on  this  idea.  "A  young  man  is  often  a  dressed 
lodging  for  the  devil  to  dwell  in."  "I  know  that  missive  letters 
go  between  the  devil  and  young  blood.  Satan  hath  a  friend  at 
court  in  the  heart  of  youth ;  and'  there  pride,  luxury,  lust,  revenge, 
forgetfulness  of  God,  are  hired  agents."  "Youth  ordinarily  is  a 
fast  and  ready  servant  for  Satan  to  run  errands."  "Believe  it,  my 
lord," — this  in  a  letter  to  a  young  Scottish  nobleman — "it  is  hardly 
creditable  what  a  nest  of  dangerous  temptations  youth  is ;  how 
inconsiderate,  foolish,  proud,  vain,  heady,  rash,  profane,  and  care- 
less of  God,  this  piece  of  your  life  is.  .  .  .  For  then  affections 
are  on  horseback,  lofty  and  stirring,  and  therefore,  oh,  what  a 
sweet  couple,  what  a  glorious  yoke,  are  youth  and  grace,  Christ 
and  a  young  man !  This  is  a  meeting  not  to  be  found  in  every 
town." 

A  soul  is  lost  when  it  is  separated  from  God  by  sin.  A  soul  is 
saved  when  it  is  separated  from  sin  to  God  through  Christ. — 
G.  Campbell  Morgan. 

If  I  were  a  stone  mason  and  wanted  to  build  a  house,  the  size 
of  the  stones  would  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  and  conse- 
quence to  me ;  but  suppose  I  was  a  scientific  man,  and  not  a  stone 
mason:  suppose  I  had  to  show,  not  what  stone  had  to  do  with 
building  a  house,  but  the  nature  and  quality  of  stone;  if  I  wanted 
to  determine  it  specific  gravity,  I  would  not  need  to  take  a  stone 
a  ton  weight  into  the  middle  of  the  ocean;  I  would  take  a  small 
pebble  and  drop  it  into  a  glass-full  of  water  and  show  the  specific 
heaviness  of  stone.     The   smallest   stone   would   demonstrate  the 


94  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

quality  of  stone  equally  with  the  largest  mass  of  a  ton's  weight. 
So  with  sin ;  it  is  not  the  quantity  of  sin  but  the  quality, — Selected. 

There  is  in  every  heart  a  dark  chamber.  There  are  very,  very 
few  of  us  that  dare  tell  all  our  thoughts  and  show  our  inmost 
selves  to  our  dearest  ones.  The  most  silvery  lake  that  lies  sleeping 
amidst  beauty — itself  the  very  fairest  spot  of  all — when  drained 
off,  shows  ugly  ooze  and  filthy  mud,  and  all  manner  of  creeping 
abominations  in  the  slime.  I  wonder  what  we  should  see  if  our 
hearts  were,  so  to  speak,  drained  off,  and  the  very  bottom  layer 
of  everything  brought  into  the  light!  Do  you  think  you  would 
stand  it?  Well,  then,  go  to  God  and  ask  him  to  keep  you  from 
unconscious  sins.  Go  to  hkn  and  ask  him  to  root  out  of  you  the 
mischiefs  that  you  do  not  know  are  there,  and  live  humbly  and' 
self-distrustfully,  and  feel  that  your  only  strength  is,  "Hold  thou 
me  up,  and  I  shall  be  saved." — Alex.  Maclaren. 

Sin  makes  self  the  center  of  all  things,  and  in  doing  so 
renounces  God.  It  denies  at  once  his  supremacy  and  our  creature- 
hood.  "Now,  then,"  says  Luther,  in  his  blunt  way,  "here  is  the 
devilishness  of  sin — it  reads  the  preface  to  the  decalogue  thus: 
'I  am  my  Lord  and  my  God.' "  This  centralization  of  all  round 
the  arrogant  and  covetous  self  has  thrown  the  entire  nature  of 
man  out  of  proportion,  and  has  disordered  all  his  powers.  As  a 
drop  of  some  tincture  colors  the  liquid  into  which  it  is  poured,  so 
sin  debases  and  defiles  all  our  nature.  This  is  what  theologians 
mean  when  they  talk  of  "total  depravity" — the  entire  moral  nature 
of  man  has  been  injuriously  affected  by  his  iniquity. — Life  in  His 
Name. 

So  far  as  our  standing  before  God  is  concerned  it  is  the  fact  of 
sin  and  not  the  degree  of  sin.  Therefore,  since  all  have  sinned,  it 
follows  that  there  is  no  difference.  Let  us  seek  an  illustration.  The 
standard  height  of  recruits  for  the  regiment  in  which  we  enlisted 
during  the  war  was  five  feet  eight  inches.  No  one  under  that 
stature  was  received.  There  were  many  who  were  excluded,  not 
because  some  of  them  were  not  higher  than  others,  but  that  all 
alike  were  short  of  the  required  height.  Here  was  a  man  who 
measured  scarcely  more  than  five  feet.  The  crowd  of  waiting 
applicants  laughed  at  the  idea  that  he  should  even  presume  to  apply, 
and  among  those  who  laughed  the  loudest  at  the  little  man  who 


THE  GUILT   AND   POWER  OF   SIN  96 

was  rejected  was  one  who,  when  he  stood  under  the  measuring 
rod,  fell  short  but  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  and  was  rejected.  It  was 
vain  for  him  to  mention  the  difference  between  himself  and  the 
man  of  very  short  stature.  There  was  a  difference  indeed  between 
them,  as  "measuring  themselves  by  themselves,"  but  there  was  no 
difference  between  them  as  concerning  the  fact  that  they  were 
both  short  of  the  required  standard.  Now  sin,  not  the  degree  of 
its  development,  but  the  fact  of  it  at  all,  is  the  one  thing  which 
renders  man  short  of  the  moral  stature  which  God  requires. — Dr. 
George  F.  Pentecost. 

Do  you  suppose  that  sin  is  to  be  driven  out  of  the  human  heart 
by  some  fine  fancy,  some  sentiment,  some  easy  method?  Until 
you  know  what  sin  is  the  gospel  will  be  an  extravagant  and 
unmeaning  tragedy.  If  there  is  a  mystery  in  redemption,  there  is 
equally  a  mystery  in  sin.  This  is  the  medicine  that  follows  the 
disease.  Herein  is  the  solution  of  the  cross.  The  ghastly  cross 
follows  the  ghastly  sin ;  the  tragedy  of  redemption  is  God's  answer 
to  the  tragedy  of  crime.  You  find  nothing  in  the  atonement 
in  the  way  of  mystery  that  you  do  not  find  in  the  way  of  sin.  God 
could  not  guide  us  away  by  soft  words  from  the  chains  of  hell. 
It  could  only  be  done  by  blood.  If  you  have  been  calling  sin, 
"infirmity,"  "mistake,"  I  wonder  not  that  you  are  frightened  by  the 
awful  transactions  that  are  here  in  the  four  gospels.  You  need 
the  whole  blood  of  the  whole  heart  of  the  dying  Savior  to  help 
you  to  get  rid  of  sin,  and  to  be  delivered  from  its  bondage. — Dr. 
lloseph  Parker. 

That  wrong  is  not  only  different  from  right,  but  that  it  is  in 
strict  scientific  terms  infinitely  different;  even  as  the  gaining  of  the 
whole  world  set  against  the  losing  of  one's  own  soul,  or  (as  John- 
son had  it)  a  heaven  set  against  a  hell;  that  in  all  situations  out 
of  the  pit  of  Tophet,  wherein  a  living  man  has  stood  or  can  stand, 
there  is  actually  a  prize  of  quite  infinite  value  placed  within  his 
reach,  namely,  a  duty  for  him  to  do;  this  highest  gospel,  which 
forms  the  basis  and  worth  of  all  other  gospels  whatsoever,  has 
been  revealed  to  Samuel  Johnson;  the  man  had  believed  it,  and 
laid  it  faithfully  to  heart. — Carlyle. 

The  question  is  whether  that  thing  is  keeping  other  better  things 
away  from  you;  whether  behind  its  little  bulk  the  vast  privilege 


96  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

and  dignity  of  duty  is  hid  from  you;  whether  it  stands  between 
God  and  your  soul.  If  it  does,  then  it  is  an  offense  to  you,  and 
though  it  be  your  right  hand  or  your  right  eye,  cut  it  off,  pluck 
it  out,  and  cast  it  from  you.  To  put  aside  everything  that  hinders 
the  highest  from  coming  to  us,  and  then  to  call  to  us  that  highest, 
which,  nay,  who  is  always  waiting  to  come,  this,  as  the  habit  and 
tenor  of  a  life,  is  noble. — Phillips  Brooks. 

There  is  but  one  condition  for  a  life.  It  is  in  bondage,  to  or 
from,  as  the  case  may  be.  In  bondage  to  sin,  and  so  free  from, 
out  of  all  relation  to  Christ.  Or  in  bondage  to  Christ,  and  free 
from  the  dominion  of  sin. — G.  Campbell  Morgan. 

For  one  thing  our  preaching  ought  to  be  frank  and  unreserved. 
It  ought  to  deal  with  the  actual  conditions  of  men.  It  ought  not  to 
deal  with  sinning  men  as  though  there  were  no  sin.  It  ought  not 
to  smooth  matters  over  so  that  hearers  know  the  man  is  preaching 
a  half  truth  for  the  sake  of  favor.  Better  young  Joseph  Parker 
standing  on  the  beam  of  the  saw  pit,  out  of  an  honest  heart 
preaching  hell  and  damnation,  than  a  smooth-voiced  softness  that 
cannot  bear  to  say  an  unpleasant  truth.  A  wise  old  elder  once 
offered  the  petition  in  my  prayer  meeting  that  I  might  never  be 
afraid  of  the  people  when  I  sat  in  my  study  preparing  to  preach. 
I  thought  it  an  odd  prayer.  I  now  know  it  to  be  a  very  impor- 
tant one.  There  is  nothing  that  can  create  a  barrier  between  a 
preacher  and  his  hearers  more  surely  than  their  feeling  that  he  is 
hedging. — Cleland  Boyd  McAfee,  D.  D. 

Look  into  a  soul  captured  by  conscience  and  tortured  by  irre- 
trievable crime.  Go  to  the  starving  prodigal  son;  go  to  weeping 
Esau;  go  to  any  soul  really  and  fully  awake  to  the  reality  of  its 
guilt  and  the  irrevocable  consequences  of  it,  and  you  will  at  once 
find  a  place  for  the  gospel  with  a  bloody  cross.  An  atoning  sac- 
rifice will  appear  rational  when  a  rational  eye  looks  upon  sin,  and 
when  conscience  declares  that  sin  is  exceeding  sinful.  For  all  the 
people  who  are  almost  as  good  as  they  should  be,  there  is  no  need 
of  a  Savior ;  a  Savior  dying  to  save  them  means  nothing.  He  dies 
in  vain.  The  man  whom  Christ  saves  is  always  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners, for  it  is  only  that  man  who  will  consent  to  be  saved. 

Such  a  sense  of  guilt  comes  to  every  man  who  truly  repents.  He 
feels  that  he  deserves  to  die.    He  gets  relief  only  in  the  faith  that 


THE  GUILT   AND   POWER   OF  SIN  9? 

Jesus  loved  him  enough  to  die  in  his  room  and  stead.  The 
deserved  punishment  has  been  inflicted.  The  sinner  has  borne  it  in 
the  person  of  Jesus,  We  beheve  that  all  compromises  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  atoner- -^nt  grew  out  of  the  absence  of  the  con- 
victed sinner  from  the  scene  of  the  compromise.  When  he  is 
present,  the  wheedling  diplomatists  of  theology  retire  before  the 
majestic  sorrow  of  a  soul  for  its  sin,  before  the  despairful  cry  for 
expiation,  before  the  sense  that  suffermg  is  justly  due  and  must 
be  borne. — Western   Christian  Advocate. 

The  nearer  you  are  to  God  in  character  the  more  hateful  does 
sin  appear.  The  nearer  to  God  the  larger  and  keener  will  be  the 
vision  of  self.  Sin  will  be  revealed  to  you  in  such  guise  as  to 
compel  confessions,  which,  to  those  who  are  strangers  to  such  fel- 
lowship and  self-revealings,  may  seem  to  indicate  either  gross  self- 
d'eception  or  a  worse  moral  condition  that  their  own.  But  not  so. 
It  is  only  the  difference  between  natural  and  spiritual  discernment 
or  between  degrees  of  the  latter — the  difference  between  the 
microscope   arid  the  unaided  eye. 

And  if,  witii  our  limited  apprehension,  it  is  yet  possible  to  so 
behold  its  nature,  tendencies  and  results,  in  ourselves  and  others, 
as  to  regard  it  with  unutterable  loathing,  what  think  you  must  be 
the  attitude  toward  it  of  him  whose  vision  grasps  all  its  hideous 
possibilities   from  beginnihg  to  end? 

You  lift  the  covering  from  some  place  shut  out  from  the  sun- 
light. And  you  are  startled  at  the  revelation.  There  are  dwellers 
in  darkness  there.  And  they  are  startled,  too.  Repulsive  and 
slimy  forms,  mayhap — how  they  wriggle,  writhe  or  scurry  hither 
and  thither  as  best  they  may. 

In  the  light  of  God  let  your  heart  be  uncovered  and  there  will 
be  startling  revelations. — Campbell. 

In  the  same  line,  a  prominent  banker,  in  an  article  contributed 
to  a  book  on  success  for  young  men,  wrote,  "The  first  requisite 
in  entering  the  banking  business,  is  educated  character."  He  had 
had  experience  with  boys,  and  he  knew.  Uneducated  conscience 
is  no  more  useful  in  a  business  sphere  than  uneducated  hand-writ- 
ing. The  rule  of  light  is  often  far  more  complicated  than  the  rule 
of  three;  and  an  uneducated  desire  to  do  right  can  easily  get  lost 
in  the  maze,  and  end  in  an  vague  belief  that  a  compromising,  or 
even  a  wrong  path,  is  the  best  one  to  take. 


98  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  most  confused  and  troublous  time  recorded  in  the  Bible 
chronicles  is  the  period  of  the  Judges,  and  the  brief  comment  is, 
"In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel :  every  man  did  that 
which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes."  No  progressive  nation  of  the 
earth  dreams  of  being  rightly  governed  in  that  way.  The  only 
men  v/ho  teach  such  an  idea  are  the  anarchists,  and  the  experi- 
ence of  all  the  ages  is  against  them.  There  must  be  a  central 
authority  in  the  state.  In  the  same  way,  an  anarchist  conscience 
will  not  do.  It  must  be  educated  to  higher  and  stronger  things, 
and  must  co-ordinate  with  central  authority.  A  lad's  conscience 
without  the  commandments  of  God  educated  into  it,  as  the  multi- 
plication table  is  educated  into  his  mind,  is  a  neglected  and  ignor- 
ant conscience.  "The  voice  of  conscience  is  the  voice  of  God,"  is 
an  old  saying ;  but  it  applies  only  to  those  who  wish  to  obey  the 
true  God.  Otherwise,  it  is  nonsense,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Hindu 
mother  who  throws  her  baby  to  the  sacred  crocodile  for  "con- 
science" sake.  "The  conscience  of  a  criminal  is  not  so  much 
destroyed,  as  readjusted,"  said  a  wonderful  observer  of  human 
nature,  once.  Without  God's  commandments  and  word  as  our 
standard,  conscience  is  sure  to  get  adjusted  into  all  sorts  of  wrong 
shapes. — The  Interior. 

It  is  often  what  we  would  call  little  sins  that  do  the  harm — little 
acts  of  unfaithfulness,  less  watchfulness,  or  dying  enthusiasm.  Get 
down  on  your  knees  before  you  get  farther,  and  ask  the  Savior  to 
break  through  your  bands.  My  friend's,  you  need  to  do  this  if 
only  you  have  started  once  or  twice  on  your  way  to  the  desert  or 
begun  to  build  your  prison.  Day  by  day  you  must  seek  him,  and 
not  allow  any  thing  to  drive  you  from  him.  When  you  feel  dis- 
appointment, vexation,  spite,  or  malice,  get  down  on  your  knees, 
and  strive  to  be  the  humble  and  lowly  soul  with  whom  he  delights 
to  dwell. — Christian  Leader. 

Crime  grows  from  crime  seeds.  In  spite  of  our  admirable  and 
enlarging  school  system,  crime  increases,  because  the  better  the 
ground,  the  larger  the  needs  if  such  are  sown.  It  is  not  needful 
to  add  that  this  view  is  totally  different  from  many  that  obtain  on 
the  subject,  and  has  several  striking  phenomena  to  sustain  it. 

Crime  is  the  same  etymologically  as  its  harmless  cousin,  the 
word  "discriminate."     It  is  that  which  is  generally  separated,  cast 


THE   GUILT   AND   POWER   OF   SIN  99 

out.  Plato  says  crime  is  a  disorder  of  the  reason.  Reason  may 
cure  as  well  as  cause.  So  there  should  be  hailed  all  efforts  that 
tend  to  treat  it  rationally,  as  any  other  disease,  instead  of  as  a 
dread  moral  perversity.  Insanity  is  now  managed,  not  with  chains, 
as  of  old,  but  with  scientific  care.  Perhaps  if  there  were  less  vin- 
dictiveness  in  Sing  Sing,  and  more  science  in  the  prison  system, 
crime  would  be  less  dreadful  and  less  frequent. 

But  now  for  the  crime  and  seed  theory.  It  rests  upon  certain 
observed  facts.  Here  in  Buffalo,  during  the  past  year,  two  series 
of  great  conflagrations  have  occurred,  one  of  hotels,  and  the  other 
of  breweries.  Large  and  horrible  destruction  of  human  lives  took 
place.  As  soon  as  the  sickening  details  of  the  Richmond  Hotel 
conflagration  were  spread  abroad  in  the  early  editions  of  the 
morning  papers,  the  same  day  in  other  parts  of  the  city  other 
hotels  were  fired  by  different  parties,  and  in  some  cases  by  boys. 
Brewery  fires  after  the  same  method  followed  the  subsequent 
destruction  of  an  extensive  brewery  plant. 

Anthony  Comstock's  work,  too,  demonstrates  by  Its  revelations 
the  marvelous  seed  power  of  criminal  pictures.  All  that  he  claims 
has  proved  true.  They  set  on  fire  the  courses  of  nature,  where 
previously  and  of  themselves  they  were  running  clear  and  pure  as 
meadow  brooks.  It  is  impossible  to  measure  the  amount  of 
immorality  and  crime  that  grows  from  these  photographic  seeds. 

The  singular  phenomena  of  blood-thirst  that  takes  possession  of 
mobs  and  riotous  assemblages,  driving  them  like  dumb  driven  cattle 
to  wanton  and  unreasoning  murders  and  arsons,  is  of  the  same 
order.  Our  list  must  include  also  the  epidemics  of  crime  that 
spring  from  the  same  origin.  Groups  of  suicidal  deaths,  too,  can 
only  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  their  victims  were  instigated 
to  their  rash  acts  by  the  secret  influences  dropped  in  their  minds 
from  other  untimely  deaths. 

All  these  varied  phenomena  indicate  that  minds  of  all  orders, 
previously  law  abiding  in  their  general  intent,  are  subject  to  sud- 
den and  malignant  growth  of  evil,  resulting  from  the  scattering  in 
their  waiting  soil  of  foreign  seed. — Clarke. 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Jefferson,  of  New  York,  In  one  of  the  most  sane 
and  satisfying  discussions  of  this  great  subject  I  have  ever  read. 


100  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

says :  "Sin  is  a  disease,  an  awful  disease ;  a  debt,  an  immeasur- 
able debt ;  a  load,  a  crushing  load ;  a  slavery,  a  galling,  intoler- 
able slavery." 

And  the  Bible  backs  him  up  in  that  strong  statement,  as  any 
Bible  student  knows. 

And  yet,  abroad  among  men  to-day  are  the  most  superficial  ideas 
about  sin.  In  current  speech  it  is  sometimes  smoothed  over  by 
being  called  an  "irregularity."  In  the  current  literature  of  the  day 
you  often  find  a  young  man's  wrong-doings  condoned  and  excused 
as  a  mere  lack  which  advancing  years  and  a  better  knowledge  of 
himself  will  supply.  Sometimes  sin  is  whitewashed  by  calling  it 
"ignorance,"  which  education  and  culture  will  do  away  with.  Very 
often  the  great  evils  of  the  present  time,  the  abominable  vices 
which  nest  and  breed  in  our  cities,  are  said  to  need  simply  "a  better 
environment,"  "improved  sanitation,"  "more  fresh  air  and  light" 
for  their  complete  eradication.  It  is  refreshing,  therefore,  to  read 
from  a  recent  thoughtful  writer  these  statements : 

"It  is  vain  to  imagine  that  a  change  of  external  conditions  will 
of  itself  bring  about  a  change  of  the  human  heart." 

"A  large  part  of  social  ills  proceed,  in  the  opinion  of  Jesus, 
not  from  social  maladjustments,  but  from  the  fault  of  human 
beings  themselves." 

"A  social  curse,  for  instance,  like  that  of  the  drink  habit,  is 
legitimately  attacked  by  legislation  and  organization ;  but  these 
external  remedies  will  be  applied  in  vain  if  there  is  any  slackening 
of  the  conviction  that,  with  most  persons,  drunkenness  is  not  a 
hiisfortune  for  which  society  is  responsible,  but  a  sin  over  which 
individuals  are  responsible."— Ezcar^ 

Why  comes  temptation  but  for  man  to  meet 
And  master  and  make  crouch  beneath  his  feet, 
And  so  be  pedestaled  in  triumph?     Pray, 
"Lead  us  into  no  such  temptation,  Lord !" 
Yea,  but,  O  Thou  whose  servants  are  the  bold, 
Lead  such  temptations  by  the  head  and  hair, 
Reluctant  dragons,  up  to  who  dares  fight, 
That  he  may  do  battle  and  have  praise. 

— Robert  Browning. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Heart  at  Fault. 

A  man  once  took  his  clock  to  be  repaired.  He  said  he  want- 
ed the  hands  attended  to,  as  they  were  the  only  parts  that 
were  wrong,  whereas  the  clockmaker  found  upon  examination 
that  the  mainspring  was  broken.  "The  heart  is  deceitful  above 
all  things,  and  desperately  wicked." 

Mutually  Exclusive,   v/ 

On  the  fly  leaf  of  a  Bible,  written  by  the  hand  of  a  sainted 
woman,  are  these  words,  "This  book  will  keep  you  from  sin. 
Sin  will  keep  you  from  this  book." 

Undercurrents. 

An  unanchored  ship  may  be  lying  on  waters  as  smooth  as 
glass,  and  yet  before  the  master  is  aware  his  keel  is  on  a  rock! 
The  invisible  tide  bore  him  away  so  softly  and  so  silently  that 
he  did  not  observe  the  motion.  So  are  thousands  of  people — 
yes,  and  some  professed  Christians,  too — carried  on  the  rocks 
every  week,  not  by  gales  of  adversity,  but  by  undercurrents  of 
strong  temptation.  One  man  is  slowly  seduced  into  slavery  to 
the  bottle ;  or  he  feels  the  grip  of  sensual  temptation,  but 
takes  no  alarm  till  he  strikes  the  rocks  with  a  hideous  rent  of 
character.  Here  is  a  church-member  who  insensibly  drifts 
into  neglect  of  his  Bible,  neglect  of  prayer,  and  laxity  of  Sab- 
bath observance.  Another  gets  in  an  undercurrent  of  utter 
worldliness ;  it  swings  him  along  slowly  and  surely  until  he 
has  lost  sight  of  his  lighthouse;  he  is  aroused  by  no  sudden 
shock,  but  when  we  look  for  him  where  he  used  to  be,  and 
where  he  ought  to  be,  he  is  not  there.  The  world  got  hold 
of  him,  and  his  anchor  had  no  hold  on  Christ. 

Sin's  Terrible  Taint, 
In  Benares  was  a  Brahmin  priest,  who,  like  all  high-caste 
Hindus,  regarded  every  drop  of  the  waters  of  the  river  Ganges 
as  pure  and  holy.     A  British  officer  produced  a  powerful   mi- 
croscope, and  put  a  drop  of  Ganges  water  under  the  lens.    The 


102  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Brahmin  looked  and  was  horrified  to  find  that  even  the  waters 
of  his  sacred  river  swarmed  with  pollution.  This  illustrates 
what  so  many  of  us  are  doing.  Because  we  are  not  commit- 
ting any  flagrant  sins,  we  think  we  are  holy.  But  let  the  om- 
niscent  God  apply  his  microscope  to  our  hearts,  and  then  we 
shall  cry  out  as  the  prophet  Isaiah  did,  "O  Lord !  I  am  but  an 
unclean  thing.  All  my  righteousness  is  as  filthy  rags." — The 
Homiletic  Review. 

The  Sins  of  the  Fathers. 

A  girl  of  seventeen  came  before  the  court  in  Chicago  for 
gambling  and  stealing,  and  told  her  story.  Her  father  had 
been  a  gambler,  and  her  father's  father  had  been  a  gambler. 
As  a  child  she  had  watched  her  father  pile  the  chips;  she 
had  sorted  them  for  him,  blue  in  one  pile,  white  in  another, 
red  in  a  third.  She  had  drawn  the  cards  when  he  was  los- 
ing, to  "change  his  luck."  After  his  death  she  had  gone  to 
school  and  had  apparently  overcome  the  evil  influence  of 
heredity. 

But  the  tamt  was  in  her  blood.  A  longing  for  excitement 
came  over  her.  When  she  was  sixteen,  a  gambler  invited  her 
to  a  dance,  and  she  went,  giving  her  mother  a  false  account  of 
her  destination.  Other  dances  followed,  then  wine,  then  gamb- 
ling. She  played  and  won.  Then  she  played  and  lost.  The 
money  was  not  her  own.  She  had  to  get  it  back  some  way. 
The  "way"  she  took  brought  her  to  the  reform  school. 

The  account  needs  no  comment.  It  is  a  simple  illustration 
of  a  law  written  not  only  on  the  Mosaic  tablets  of  stone,  but 
in  the  very  constitution  of  the  world.  "I,  the  Lord  thy  God, 
am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that 
hate  me."  If  those  men  who  think  their  crimes,  their  excesses, 
yes,  even  the  faults  of  character  that  we  speak  of  as  the  "less- 
er sins,"  are  harmless  because  they  themselves  are  well  and 
happy  and  undetected — if  those  men  would  see  the  heritage 
they  are  leaving  their  children,  they  might  not  be  so  ready  to 
boast  of  their  "wild  oats"  which  "left  no  one  any  the  worse."-~ 
The  Advance. 


THE  GUILT   AND   POWER   OF   SIN  103 

Sin's  Blight. 
The  holy  well,  Lenzem,  at  Mecca,  into  which  "the  moon  once 
fell,"  which  pilgrims  drink  or  use  for  their  ablutions,  the  wa- 
ters of  which  are  sent  to  Mohammedan  princes  throughout  the 
world,  was  some  years  ago  analyzed  by  Dr.  Franklin,  at  South 
Kensington,  England.  The  water  was  found  to  be  sewage,  con- 
taining 579  grains  of  solid  matter  per  gallon.  It  had,  in  a 
word,  become  the  cholera  center  of  Asia. 

Dangerous  Infection. 
An  eastern  paper  has  a  report,  which  we  take  with  some 
doubt  as  to  its  truth,  but  which  may  illustrate  an  important 
principle.  It  gives  the  story  of  a  woman  who  is  infected  with 
the  germs  of  typhoid  fever  so  that  she  infects  people  wherever 
she  goes.  She  has  never  shown  any  symptoms  of  the  disease 
herself,  yet  for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half  she  has  been  travel- 
ing around  and  leaving  a  trail  of  infected  families  in  which  she 
has  resided.  Though  she  shows  no  outward  signs  of  the  dis- 
ease, yet  her  blood  always  responds  to  the  test  of  typhoid,  and 
the  germs  are  undoubtedly  in  her,  so  that  she  is  a  perpetual 
source  of  infection.  The  case  is  an  illustration  of  the  infec* 
tiousness  of  immorality.  The  germs  of  evil  are  in  all  human 
beings,  but  some  have  them  in  more  malignant  forms.  Some 
show  no  special  symptoms  of  vice,  and  move  in  the  best  so- 
ciety and  associate  with  the  innocent  and  unsuspecting,  and 
yet  their  presence  is  a  deadly  danger. — Herald  and  Presbyter. 

Sin's  Death-Dealing  Influence. 

In  the  River  Lar,  in  Persia,  there  is  a  large  ferruginous  rock 
with  two  apertures  a  few  feet  apart.  It  is  called  the  Devil's 
Hill.  On  standing  near  the  rock  one  hears  a  deep,  perpetual, 
and  mysterious  roar  far  down  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  as 
if  demons  were  engaged  forging  weapons  for  another  war 
against  the  race  of  man.  Naturally  no  one  has  ever  ventured 
down  to  see  the  mighty  works  going  on  below,  nor  ever  will  in 
all  probability;  for  a  m-ephitic  gas  of  deadly  potency  exhales 
from  the  openings  in  the  rock,  which  causes  instant  death  to 
every  living  thing  that  breathes  it.     Around  the  rock  there  is 


104  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ever  a  score  or  two  of  birds  which  have  fallen  dead  on  inhal- 
ing the  air ;  and  before  now  a  bear  has  been  seen  lying  at  the 
entrance,  stark  and  stiff. 

The  Power  of  Sin  for  Evil. 
"A  town  of  2,500  wiped  out  of  existence,"  was  the  intelli- 
gence received  concerning  the  beautiful  village  of  Lake  Lin- 
den, Mich.,  recently,  and  this  sweeping  conflagration  that  in 
two  hours  transformed  the  town  into  a  waste  of  smoking  ruins 
had  its  beginning  in  an  unseen  flame  in  a  small  upper  story. 
But  "fanned  by  a  stifif  wind,  it  swept  everything  before  it." 
A  thousand  acres  of  forest  despoiled  of  all  its  May  beauty  and 
life,  the  result  of  a  single  falling  spark  from  a  passing  loco- 
motive, or  a  lighted  match  dropped  by  a  thoughtless  boy. 

Moral  Stain. 

Turning  the  pages  of  a  book  that  I  had  taken  from  my  li- 
brary the  other  day,  I  noticed  an  ink  blot.  I  turned  back  and 
found  the  same  blot  on  the  preceding  page.  Curious  to  see 
where  it  came  from,  I  turned  back  perhaps  a  dozen  pages 
till  I  came  to  the  source  of  it.  That  one  ink  blot  had  soaked 
through  a  dozen  pages,  marring  them  all. — The  Sunday  School 
Times. 

In  the  Serpent's  Coils. 

The  struggle  of  life  with  evil  is  made  to  live  to  sight  in  the 
Laocoon  of  art.  In  many  respects  this  group  is  one  of  the 
masterpieces  of  Greek  sculpture.  It  was  discovered  in  1506, 
in  the  ruins  of  the  baths  of  Titus  on  the  Esquiline  Hill  at 
Rome.  It  was  carried  to  Paris,  but  later — in  1814 — returned 
to  Rome.  It  was  purchased  by  Pope  Julius  II,  and  is  now  in 
the  museum  of  the  Vatican.  The  story  embodied  in  marble 
is  that  of  this  Trojan  hero  and  priest  of  Apollo — Laocoon — 
and  his  sons  encoiled  by  serpents  and  suffering  the  agonies  of 
strangulation,  as  told  by  Virgil  and  other  classic  authors.  The 
priest-father  is  vainly  endeavoring  to  disengage  himself  and 
his  children  from  the  coiling  serpents,  but  he  is  helpless  and 
hopeless  and  sinks  at  last  into  despair.  Life  is  so  encoiled  and 
the  conflict  is  long  protracted,  only  to  end,  however,  under 
Christian  courage  in  conquest  for  parent  and  child. — The  Homil- 
etic  Review. 


THE  GUILT   AND   POWER   OF   SIN  105 

Positive  and  Negative. 

Transgression  is  an  active  devil.  Want  of  conformity  is  a 
sleeping  one. 

And  if  this  be  true  along  the  lower  ranges  of  life  so  also 
and  much  more  along  the  higher.  You  may  not  be  so  ex- 
plosive as  another.  Walpole  said,  "Every  man  has  his  price." 
It  took  more  to  convert  the  sleeping  into  an  active  devil  in 
one  than  it  did  in  another.  But  the  possibility  was  in  all. — 
God's  Way  Out. 

How  the  Gypsy  Moth  Came  to  Massachusetts. 

Samuel  Hopkins  Adams,  writing  in  the  American  Magazine  on 
"Warring  on  Injurious  Insects,"  describes  as  follows  how  the 
dreaded  gypsy  moth  became  such  a  pest  in  New  England: 

"A  Harvard  astronomer,  amusing  his  leisure  by  experimenting 
with  the  cross  breeding  of  silk  worms,  brought  the  gypsy  moth  to 
Medford,  Mass.,  in  1868,  by  importing  the  eggs  from  Europe. 
This  well-known  insect  had  a  wide  distribution  in  Europe,  but  ha'd 
never  been  a  source  of  serious  trouble  there,  as  its  numbers  were 
kept  down  by  conditions  which  are  not  wholly  understood,  though 
largely  parasitic,  presumably.  Whatever  these  conditions,  they  did 
not  obtain  in  this  country.  Twenty  years  the  foreigner  spent  in 
accustoming  itself  to  American  institutions.  In  1898  it  set  out  to 
take  possession  of  the  land.  In  and  about  Medford  the  trees  were 
wholly  defoliated  by  the  ravenous  caterpillars.  They  covered  the 
sidewalks  and  furlined  the  walls  of  houses.  People  moved  away. 
Real  estate  depreciated  in  value.  _  The  authorities  woke  up  to  the 
fact  that  they  had  a  serious  problem  on  their  hands,  and  appro- 
priated money  to  fight  the  invaders,  $525,000  from  1889  to  1895. 
In  1897  the  yearly  appropriation  had  risen  to  $150,000,  and  in  the 
next  three  years  the  work  was  so  effective  that  by  1900  the  victory 
was  almost  won.  Then  Massachusetts  made  the  fatal  mistake  of 
giving  quarter  to  the  few  survivors.  Appropriations  were  cut  off 
with  lamentable  results.  For  in  the  five  years  from  1900  the  area 
of  infestation  grew  from  359  square  miles  ta  2,224  square  miles. 
The  pest  had  spread  in  all  directions,  and  the  moths  had  crossed 
the  state  line  into  Rhode  Island  in  such  numbers  that  Providence 
now  maintains  a  large  and  expensive  corps  of  men  to  hunt  out 
and  destroy  the  pests.^ 


106  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Sin's  Tenacity. 

One  of  the  most  vexatious  of  weeds  is  purslane  (Portulaca 
oleracea),  of  which  it  is  said,  "It  comes  in  May  and  lasts  through 
the  summer.  One  plant  bears  enough  seed  for  an  acre.  The  least 
bit  of  root  sprouts  again,  and  when  rooted  up,  if  a  single  fiber 
touches  the  soil,  it  starts  off  to  full  vigor.  You  may  cut  it  as  you 
please,  rake  it  into  the  alley,  let  a  July  sun  scorch  it,  and  if  there 
be  so  much  as  a  handful  of  dirt  thrown  at  it,  no  fear  but  it  will 
grow  again." 

Says  Paul,  "When  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me." 
Sin  still  adheres,  however  severely  you  deal  with  it. — Homiletic 
Review. 

Sin's  Hatred  of  the  Good. 

From  the  beginning  Satan  has  tried  to  frustrate  the  work  of 
God,  and  never  ceases,  however  unsuccessful.  So  Mackay  found 
it  in  1877  when  he  went  to  the  city  of  Bang-kah,  in  Formosa,  to 
preach  and  carry  on  his  missionary  work.  He  rented  a  hut  or 
hovel,  inscribing  it  with  the  words,  "Jesus'  Holy  Temple."  He 
was  soon  ordered  by  the  soldiers  to  leave,  and  pelted  with  filth  all 
the  way  out  of  the  city.  After  praying  all  night  with  his  helpers, 
he  came  back  again,  and  this  time  their  house  was  torn  to  pieces 
by  an  enraged  mob  of  thousands.  They  fairly  dlig  up  the  founda- 
tions, but  through  fear  of  the  British  consul  did  not  harm  Mackay. 
Across  the  street  to  an  inn  was  the  next  move,  where  the  mob  cov- 
ered the  roof  and  were  breaking  up  the  tiles  when  the  consul 
arrived  with  troops.  Then  Mackay  refused  to  go,  and  in  a  few 
days  began  to  build  a  church  on  the  site  of  the  hovel  which  had 
been  torn  down.  In  1893  (says  "Leaves  of  Light,"  from  which 
this  account  is  taken)  Mackay  left  Bang-kah  for  his  Canadian 
home  for  a  short  stay,  and,  in  going  to  the  boat,  was  carried  in  a 
sedan  chair,  headed  by  a  procession,  led  by  eight  bands  of  music. 
Then  came  a  company  of  boys  carrying  flags  and  streamers,  fol- 
lowed by  nine  city  officials,  three  servants  carrying  umbrellas  to 
shade  Mackay,  a  troop  of  six  horsemen,  twenty-six  prominent  per- 
sons riding  in  sedan  chairs,  and  a  company  of  three  hundred  on 
foot.  Bang-kah  had  become  the  Gibraltar  of  the  gospel. — Pilgrim 
Teacher. 


THE  GUILT  AND   POWER  OF  SIN  107 

Sin's  Curse. 
At  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1867  there  was  a  little  oil  painting, 
only  about  a  foot  square,  and  the  face  it  portrayed  was  most  hid- 
eous. On  the  paper  attached  to  the  painting  were  the  words, 
"Sowing  the  Tares."  The  face  looked  like  a  demon's.  As  he  sowed 
these  tares,  up  came  serpents  and  reptiles,  and  they  were  crawling 
up  his  body,  and  all  around  were  woods  with  wolves  and  other 
animals  prowling  in  them.  The  painter  had  brought  the  sowing 
and  reaping  together,  blotting  out  the  period  for  growth.  Yet  in 
every  man's  experience  are  examples  of  boys  and  girls  whose 
lives  ended  in  harvests  as  terrible  as  these. 

Blighted. 
Hearts  become  hard  in  the  same  way  that  foot-paths  do,  by 
constant  trampling  upon  them.  Vain  and  silly  thoughts  trip  swiftly 
and  tirelessly  back  and  forward.  Every  indulgence  of  the  flesh 
stamps  with  feet  of  iron.  Rejected  reproofs,  omitted  duties,  broken 
promises,  march  ponderously  upon  its  sensitive  surfaces.  As  a 
cattle  path  across  a  meadow  is  lower  and  harder  and  blacker  than 
the  green  sward  it  divides,  so  is  the  path  of  a  bad  habit  upon  a 
hum.an  heart.  No  grass  or  grain  can  grow  upon  the  cattle  path, 
nor  can  the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom  sprout  in  the  track  of  an 
evil  habit. 

Sin's  Peril. 

A  common  sight  at  a  railroad  station,  says  Dr.  L.  A.  Banks,  is 
a  man  tapping  the  wheels  of  the  cars,  one  after  another,  with  his 
hammer.  His  business  is  to  see  that  the  wheels  are  sound.  If  one 
wheel  of  a  car  is  cracked  or  injured  in  any  way,  the  car  is  pulled 
out.  The  other  wheels  may  be  all  right,  but  the  single  defective 
one  makes  the  car  unfit  to  be  used.  The  various  parts  of  our 
nature  are  like  the  wheels  of  the  car — they  must  be  kept  in  good 
order,  if  we  are  to  be  safe  and  happy  on  the  journey  of  life.  Our 
bodies  ought  to  be  as  strong  and  healthy  as  possible.  Our  minds 
need  to  be  trained  into  full  vigor  and  alertness.  By  unceasing 
exercise,  the  mind  must  become  quick  to  see  and  the  will  resolute 
to  choose  the  right.  And,  above  all,  our  spirits  must  learn  to  love 
God  and  goodness.  Are  the  wheels  all  right?  Be  sure  they  are, 
for  if  any  one  of  them  is  unsound,  there  is  danger  of  wreck  and 
ruin  in  your  life. 


108  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Power  of  Evil  Habit. 
Father  Schoenmaker,  of  the  Osage  Mission  to  the  Indians,  had 
for  years  tried  to  implant  civilization,  with  its  customs,  among  the 
wild  tribes,  and  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  he  was  rewarded  by 
seeing  the  blanket  laid  aside  by  the  chief.  But  he  goes  on  to  say, 
"It  took  fifteen  years  to  get  it  off,  and  just  fifteen  minutes  to  get 
it  on  him  again." 

Accustomed  to  Evil. 

"It  was  a  leading  article  of  faith  among  teamsters,"  says  a  mili- 
tary writer  on  the  American  Civil  War,  "that  mules  could  only  be 
driven  by  constant  cursing,  and  they  lived  up  to  that  faith  with 
rare  constancy.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact, 
that  whenever  an  attempt  was  made  to  drive  a  team  of  mules  with- 
out indulging  in  profanity  it  invariably  proved  a  failure,  because 
the  animals  had  grown  so  accustomed  to  that  method  of  persuasion 
that  they  would  not  move  without  it !" 

Temptation. 

The  old  shepherd  who  offered  prayer  in  a  Welsh  revival  meetmg 
put  it  exactly  right  when  he  lamented  his  backslidings  in  these 
words,  "Lord,  I  got  among  the  thorns  and  briars,  and  was 
scratched  and  torn  and  bleeding ;  but.  Lord,  it  is  only  fair  to  say 
that  it  was  not  on  thy  ground;  I  had  wandered  out  of  thy  pas- 
ture."— Epworth  Herald. 

Sin's  Spread. 

A  farmer  in  Connecticut  found  a  small  potato  in  one  of  his 
pockets  when  he  came  in  from  the  fields.  Passing  it  to  his  boy, 
twelve  years  old,  he  said,  "Here,  plant  that,  and  you  shall  have 
all  you  can  raise  from  it  until  you  are  of  age."  The  boy  cut  the 
potato  into  as  many  pieces  as  there  were  "eyes,"  and  planted  it. 
He  continued  to  plant,  each  succeeding  year,  the  entire  crop.  The 
result  was  that  his  fourth  year's  harvest  amounted  to  four  hundred 
bushels.  Then,  seeing  that  the  boy's  planting  would  cover  all  his 
land,  the  farmer  asked  to  be  released  from  his  bargain. — Epworth 
Herald. 

Sin's  Lure. 

Captain  Scott,  in  "The  Voyage  of  the  Discovery,"  tells  of  the 
immense  care  that  was  taken  by  the  magnetic  experts  on  board  to 
banish  all  iron  and  steel  from  the  vicinity  of  the  magnetic  obser- 


THE   GUILT    AND    POWER   OF   SIN  109 

vatory.  Everything  within  thirty  feet  of  the  observatory  had  to  be 
made  of  brass,  lead,  hemp  or  some  other  non-magnetic  material. 
These  regulations  secured  the  accuracy  of  the  magnetic  observa- 
tions. But  the  motions  of  the  heart  are  most  disturbed  by  a  bit 
of  gold  anywhere  in  its  neighborhood.  The  thought  of  gain 
seems  to  deflect  the  whole  delicate  machinery  of  the  moral  sense. — 
W.  L.  Watkinson.  ' 

A  Canker. 

One  day  during  a  thunder  storm  a  noble  old  apple-tree  was  torn 
up  by  the  roots  and  tossed  over  on  its  side  to  die.  The  next  day 
and  the  next  the  apple  blossoms  of  the  fallen  monarch  continued  to 
unfold  their  beauty.  And  when  the  petals  lay  on  the  ground  like 
snowflakes,  the  tiny  apples  developed  from  the  pistil,  and  when 
autumn  came  the  ground-swept  branches  were  laden  with  the 
choicest  fruit.  But  all  who  saw  the  humbled  tree  knew  that  hence- 
forth no  fruit  should  grow  on  it.  The  luxuriant  green  top  was 
surely  fading.  The  quivering  branches  clinging  so  fondly  to  life 
were  struck  with  death. 

So  there  are  men  who  seem  as  if  their  natures  had  been  torn  up 
by  the  roots  in  the  terrible,  unsparing  tornado  of  sin.  They  may 
put  forth  new  life,  apparently,  but  it  is  fading  at  the  top  and  at  the 
roots.  It  is  struck  with  death.  As  soon  as  its  temporal  vitality  is 
exhausted,  no  fruit  will  grow  on  it  henceforth. 

The  only  hope  of  the  soul  is  to  be  rooted  in  Christ,  the  ground 
of  our  hope  that  "maketh  not  ashamed"  and  though  the  floods  beat 
nothing  can  remove  it  For  we  have  the  promise,  "And  he  shall 
be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth  his 
fruit  in  his  season ;  his  leaf  also  shall  not  wither ;  and  whatsoever 
he  doeth  shall  prosper." — Homiletic  Review. 

A  Terrible  Disease. 
Sin  is  a  great,  black,  dark  fact.  God  hates  it  and  will  surely 
punish  it.  And  man  ought  to  try  to  get  rid  of  it  even  though  it 
costs  him  the  cutting  off  of  the  right  hand  or  the  plucking  out  of 
the  right  eye  of  some  darling  indulgence.  And  no  matter  how 
moral  and  upright  a  man  is,  or  thinks  he  is,  he  needs  God's  rem- 
edy for  sin,  the  atoning  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  regenerating 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  A  Pasteur  may  be  able  to  cure  diph- 
theria,  hydrophobia,    snake-bite   and   the   bubonic   plague,   but   no 


110  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

science  that  man  has  originated  can  cure  the  disease  of  sin,  for 
this  terrible  disease  darkens  his  understanding,  corrupts  his  affec- 
tions, weakens  his  will,  hides  from  him  the  face  of  God,  and,  if 
persisted  in,  will  ultimately  destroy  his  soul,  for  "the  wages  of  sin 
is  death." — Ewart. 

Understanding  Sin. 

One  sequence  of  the  decadence  in  the  preaching  of  the  retribu- 
tive menaces  of  the  gospel  is  a  corresponding  decline  in  the  depths 
and  thoroughness  of  conversions.  In  this  respect  the  history  of 
our  modern  religious  life  is  ominous  of  evils  untold.  An  officer  in 
one  of  the  churches  of  Connecticut  has  reported  to  me  recently  the 
comment  of  his  pastor  upon  certain  admissions  to  the  church,  in 
this  wise,  "At  our  last  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  we 
admitted,"  in  default  of  more  exact  memory  I  will  say,  "twelve 
candidates  on  profession  of  their  faith ;  and  there  was  not  one  sin- 
ner among  them  all !"  He  thus  expressed  his  detection  of  those 
profound  convictions  of  sin  which  characterized  conversions  in  an 
earlier  age.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  this  incident  is  characteristic  of 
the  times  we  live  in.  What  more  opportune  corrective  of  this 
decline  from  the  faith  and  the  religious  life  of  our  fathers  can  be 
devised  than  a  revival  of  their  free,  courageous  use  of  the  biblical 
emblems  in  retributive  discourse?  Those  emblems  should  be  made 
to  live  again,  as  they  have  always  lived  in  the  great  awakenings 
which  have  signalized  our  history. — Professor  Austin  Phelps,  D.  D. 


SERVICE  FIVE— Wednesday  Evening 

The  IF  ages  of  Sin 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  V 

Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. — 

Gal.  d-'/". 
For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death. — Rom.  6:2^. 
Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out. — Num.  S^-^S- 
Who  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds. 

— Rom.  2:6. 
He  shall  reward  every  man  according  to  his  works. — 

Matt.  i6-2y. 
Then  when  lust  hath  conceived,  it  bringeth  forth  sin ; 

and  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth  death, — 

James  1:15. 
God  gave  them   over   to   a   reprobate   mind. — Rom. 

1:28. 
His  confidence  shall  be  rooted  out  of  his  tabernacle, 

and  it   shall  bring  him  to  the  king  of  terrors. — 

Job  18:14. 
All  these  curses  shall  come  upon  thee. — Deut.  28-15. 
He  disappointeth  the  devices  of  the  crafty,   so  that 

their  hands  cannot  perform  their  enterprise. — Job 

5-12. 
The  heaven  shall  reveal  his  iniquity;  and  the  earth 

shall  rise  up  against  him. — Job  20'-2'j. 
Because  there  is  wrath,  beware  lest  he  take  thee  away 

with  his  stroke. — Job  36-18. 
The  name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot. — Prov.  io:J, 
For  ye  shall  be  as  an  oak  whose  leaf  fadeth. — Isa. 

I -SO. 

And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you. 

— Matt.  7:23. 
It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in 

the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  thee. — Matt.  11:24. 
Whose  end  is  destruction. — Phil.  S'lp. 
These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment. — 

Matt.  25:46. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. — Gal.  6:7. 

1.  Results  in  the  natural  and  spiritual  worlds  are  def- 

initely determined  by  law.    Sowing  time  and  reap- 
ing time  are  as  cause  and  effect. 

2.  Thought-seed,  word-seed,  act-seed  are  sown. 

3.  The  harvest  is  habits,  characters,  destinies. 

4.  Wise  sowing  of  transcendent  importance.     It  is  pos- 

sible only  by  Christ's  help, 

For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death. — Rom.  6:23, 

1.-    The  sinner  is  the  devil's  toiler. 

2.  Delusive  promises  the  inducement  held  out. 

3.  The  actual  payment  is  eternal  death. 

Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out, — Num.  32 :23. 

1.  The  sinner  pits  his  puny  wisdom  agamst  omniscience. 

2.  All  the  forces  of  the  universe  are  in  league  against 

him. 

3.  Final  exposure  and  punishment  are  inevitable. 

Then  he   shall  reward   every  man   according  to   his  works. — 

Matt.  16:27. 

1.  A  final  accounting  awaits  evil. 

2.  Absolute   justice   will   characterize   the   awards. 

3.  Each  life  writes  its  own  verdict  and  sentence. 

Then  when  lust  hath  conceived,  it  bringeth  forth  sin,  and  sin, 
when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth  death. — James  1 :15. 

1.  Evil's  stages  are  always  progressive  downward, 

2.  Its  early  promise  is  bright  and  seductive. 

3.  Sooner  or  later  comes  the  bitter  end. 

4.  Revelation  and  history  furnish  innumerable  examples. 


God  gave  them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind. — Rom.  1 

1.  God  is  long-suffering  and  gracious. 

2.  But  his  spirit  will  not  always  strive. 

3.  Beware  of  quenching  the  spirit. 


:28. 


114  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

His  confidence  shall  be  rooted  out  of  his  tabernacle,  and  it 
shall  bring  him  to  the  king  of  terrors. — Job.  18:14. 

1.  The  apparent  security  of  the  complacent  "rich  fool." 

2.  The  sure  outworking  of  God's  laws. 

3.  The  dire  result. 

All  these  curses  shall  come  upon  thee. — Deut.  28:15. 

1.  God's  word  is  sure. 

2.  His  promises  certain  of  fulfillment. 

3.  His  warnings  no  less  so. 

4.  Flee  from  the  wrath  to  come. 

He  disappointeth  the  devices  of  the  crafty,  so  that  their  hands 
cannot  perform  their  enterprise. — Job  5:12. 

1.  Men   presumptuously   imagine   themselves   independ- 

ent of  God. — Napoleon. 

2.  God  eventually  brings  their  self-confidence  to  naught. 

3.  "Woe  unto  him  that  striveth  with  his  Maker!" 

The  heaven  shall  reveal  his  iniquity;  and  the  earth  shall  rise 
up  against  him. — Job.  20:27. 

1.  Sin  not  merely  wrong  but  folly. 

2.  All  the   forces  of  the  universe   arrayed  against  the 

sinners.      "The    stars    in     their    courses    fought 
against    Sisera." 

3.  Common  sense  should  preach  repentance. 

Because  there  is  wrath,  beware  lest  he  take  thee  away  with  his 

stroke.— Job.  36:18. 

1.  God  is  love;  the  cross  sufficient  proof. 

2.  God  is  holy;  the  cross  is  proof;  angry  with  the  sin- 

ner. 

3.  Love  and   holiness   trampled   under   foot  incur  "the 

wrath  of  the  Lamb." 

The  name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot. — Prov.  10:7. 

1.  His  life  a  stench — Rome,  Babylon,  Darker  London. 

2.  His  influence  putrid. 

3.  His  reputation  and  memory,  unsavory. 

4.  Shun  sin  as  you  would  corruption. 

For  ye  shall  be  as  an  oak  whose  leaf  fadeth. — Isa.  1 :30. 

1.  Vegetation  withered  by  blight,  frost,  fire. 

2.  So  sin  blights  the  fairest  lives. — Byron,  Burns,  Poe. 

3.  Psalm   1. — Delight  in  the  law  of  the   Lord   secures 

immunity. 


THE   WAGES   OF  SIN  115 

And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you. — Matt. 
7:23. 

1.  Sin  is  the  rejection  of  Christ  here. 

2.  Its  penalty  is  rejection  by  Christ  hereafter. 

It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  than  for  thee. — Matt.   11:24. 

1.  Our  use  of  opportunities  must  be  accounted  for. 

2.  Increased   privileges,   despised,    increase   guilt. 

Whose  end  is  destruction. — Phil.  3:19. 

1.  They  may  be  prosperous  at  present,  these  worldlings. 

2.  This  apparent  immunity  from   evil   may  fill   with  a 

reckless  sense  of  security. 

3.  But  doom  comes  at  last. 

These    shall    go    away    into    everlasting    punishment. — Matt. 
25 :46. 

1.  A   distinct   line   of   demarkation    between    good   and 

evil  throughout  the  universe :  God  and  Satan ; 
truth  and  falsehood;  right  and  wrong;  heaven  and 
hell. 

2.  In  men's  lives  here,  the  moral  grouping  process  ever 

going  on. 

3.  True  of  the  hereafter — final  separation. 


SUGGESTIONS 

Systematic  visitation  methods  will  awaken  and  deepen  interest  in 
the  service.  While  they  should  be  continued  throughout  the  time  oi 
the  services,  they  should  be  begun  several  months  before.  Ask  foi 
volunteers  who  will  agree  to  make  two  calls  a  week  on  designated 
individuals  within  and  without  the  congregation.  Fifty  ladies — oi 
men — each  making  two  calls  a  week,  will  make  eight  hundred  to 
a  thousand  calls  in  two  months. 

Have  them,  incidentally,  mention  and  invite  to  the  contemplated 
special  services.  If  your  cards  announcing  these  services  are  ready, 
these  can  be  distributed  by  these  visitors.  There  could  be  no  more 
effective  advertising  than  this. 

The  writer  used  a  simple  inter- visitation  card,  as  follows: 


SYSTEMATIC  INTER-VISITATION 

Mrs 

Please  call  on  the  following  persons.  Mark  date  of 
call  after  each  name  and  return  this  card  to  pastor  by 
-- - — ~ — Mark  any  not  at  home  O. 

NAME  DATE  OP  CALL 


THE  WAGES   OF  SIN 


117 


The  pastor  can  keep  track  of  the  calls  made  by  a  sheet  ruled  as 
follows : 

INTER-VISITATION  SCHEDULE 


PERSONS   CALLING 


Mrs.  T.  O,  James 
Miss  Anna  Card 
Mrs.  T.  R.  Wilson 
Mrs.  R.  M.  Thomas 


0) 

>, 

o  > 


2-6-10 


1-6-10 


6-6-10 


C/3  to 

.  to 


3-4-10 


1-20-10 
6-17-10 


10-4-10  9-6-10 


Oh'  O 

.  ^ 

CO  *^ 


;^ 


4-6-10 
1-30-10 
7-6-10 
8-4-10 


3-10-10 
5-7-10 

8-9-10 

o 
12-9-10 


By  this  schedule,  its  entries  being  made  as  the  cards  are 
returned,  the  pastor  can  keep  accurately  informed  as  to  who 
called  on  whom  and  when.  It  will  give  him  a  clue  to  dependable 
workers,  and  also  to  the  amount  of  social  attention  received  by 
each  person.  The  system  is  of  great  value  at  all  times,  but  this  is 
particularly  true  just  before  and  during  special  services.  There 
are  those  who  will  not  definitely  commit  themselves  to  soul-win- 
ning efforts  who  will  enter  into  this  systematic  inter-visitation  work, 
and  through  it,  often,  into  the  other. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

There  is  a  touch  of  deep  sadness  in  the  parable  of  the  fig-tree 
that  would  not  bear  and  also  cumbered  the  ground.  The  keeper 
pleaded  for  one  more  year,  and  joined  his  master  in  pronouncing 
its  doom  if  it  should  be  still  barren.  Did  it  bear  that  critical  year? 
If  it  did,  the  master  rejoiced  with  the  keeper.  If  it  did  not,  the 
keeper  counted  the  master  wise  in  cutting  it  down. — McAfee. 

We  can  not  will  the  evil,  and  be  saved  from  all  the  consequences 
and  fruits  of  evil.  If  we  were  only  reasonable  men,  if  we  only 
believed  it  is  a  reasonable  world  that  we  live  in,  we  should  not 
believe  in  such  a  fool's  paradise.  The  idea  of  a  man  willing  an 
evil,  and  then  expecting  in  some  strange,  magical  way  to  be  saved 
from  the  results  of  the  evil !  The  evil  is  already  done  when  the 
heart  is  wholly  given  up  to  it,  and  sooner  or  later  we  must  have 
our  way.  We  persist,  we  tempt  God  for  it,  we  desire  it,  we  long 
after  it,  we  will  have  it,  we  must  have  it.  Take  it,  man,  take  it, 
the  sin  and  the  curse,  the  desire  and  the  sting.  "God  said  unto 
Balaam,  'Go,'  and  God's  anger  was  kindled  because  he  went." — 
Hugh  Black,  D.  D.,  in  the  Homiletic  Review. 

There  is  not  one  evil  that  sin  has  not  brought  me. 

There  is  not  one  good  that  hath  come  in  its  train; 
It  hath  cursed  me  through  life,  and  its  sorrows  have  sought  me, 

Each  day  that  went  by,  in  want,  sickness,  or  pain. 
And  then  when  this  life  of  affliction  is  ended. 

What  a  home  for  my  weary  heart  did  it  prepare? 
The  anger  of  him  whom  my  sins  had  offended. 

And  the  night,  the  sick  night,  of  eternal  despair. — F.  W.  Faber. 

What  is  there  in  all  the  gratifications  of  passion,  the  pomp  of 
the  world,  and  the  enjoyments  of  it,  to  the  delights  of  a  good  con- 
science? It  is  the  health  of  the  mind;  it  is  a  sweet  perfume  that 
diffuses  its  fragrance  over  everything  near  it,  without  exhausting 
its  store ;  unaccompanied  with  this,  the  gay  pleasures  of  the  world 
are  like  brilliants  to  a  diseased  eye,  music  to  a  deaf  ear,  wine  to  an 
ardent  fever,  or  dainties  in  the  languor  of  an  ague.  A  good  con- 
science is,  indeed,  the  .peace  of  God  which  passeth  understanding ; 


THE  WAGES  OF  SIN  119 

how  happy  is  it  to  lie  down  with  such  a  sweet  companion  after  a 
day  spent  in  communion  with  God  and  the  necessary  duties  of  Hfe! 
— Dr.  Knox. 

"He  that  plants  thorns  should  never  go  barefooted,"  is  an  old 
saying.  Of  course,  you  know  what  that  means.  The  planted 
thorns  are  quite  sure  to  come  up,  and  in  the  path  of  the  one  who 
planted  them,  so  that  if  he  goes  barefooted  he  will  feel  their  sharp 
pricks  himself. 

There  is  another  way  of  putting  it:  Those  who  carelessly  or 
purposely  make  trouble  for  others  find  trouble  for  themselves. 
Isn't  that  true? 

There  are  a  great  many  kinds  of  thorns.  There  is  disobedience, 
which  is  a  sadly  sharp  one.  We  have,  too,  unl<indness,  selfishness, 
forgetfulness,  impatience,  rudeness,  teasing,  and  dozens  of  others. 
Did  you  ever  know  any  one  who  was  guilty  of  doing  these  things, 
which  is  another  way  of  saying  that  he  planted  these  thorns,  who 
was  always  happy  and  pleased  and  had  always  a  smooth  path  for 
himself?    You  never  did. 

Thorns  grow  very  fast.  They  never  have  to  be  weeded  and 
watered,  as  flowers  do.  Plant  them  and  they  will  grow.  So  wrong 
thoughts  and  wrong  deeds  bring  forth  their  fruit  fast  enough, 
without  any  care  whatever.  And  things  of  this  kind  always  hurt 
more  than  one  person.    You  will  notice  that. 

People  ought  always  to  do  right  for  the  sake  of  doing  right,  and 
because  it  pleases  the  Savior,  but  that  "ought"  is  very  easy  to 
forget.  So  it  is  a  wise  thing  that  doing  wrong  brings  trouble  to 
the  wrong-doer,  for  this  makes  it  easier  to  remember  the  right. 

Don't  plant  thorns.  You  can  never  protect  yourself  perfectly 
against  them.  Trouble  others  and  you  will  be  hurt.  Scatter  seeds 
of  kindness  and  you  will  have  a  harvest  of  gladness  yourself.^ 
Selected. 

Though  much  has  been  said  about  flies  as  a  menace  to  human 
health,  it  has  been  left  to  The  Technical  World  to  disclose  the 
damage  they  do  to  cultivated  crops,  which,  in  this  country,  it  says, 
must  amount  to  scores  of  millions  of  dollars. 

Nearly  all  diseases  of  plants  are  due  to  fungi,  usually  micro- 
scopic. Of  such  character,  for  example,  are  the  ''smuts"  of  wheat 
and  other  grains,  the  "mildews,"  the  "rusts"  and  all  the  long  Ust 


120  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

of  fruit  "rots"  of  various  kinds.  These  and  ever  so  many  other 
vegetable  maladies  are  attributable  to  minute  fungi  which  feed 
upon  the  plants. 

Bad  passions  are  to  the  soul  what  vapors  exhaled  from  the 
marshes  are  to  the  atmosphere  which  they  fill  with  storms.  They 
darken  the  intellect  and  cast  the  soul  into  a  sort  of  stupefaction.—* 
Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Life  is  of  a  piece — here  and  hereafter.  Tomorrow  is  linked  with 
today,  and  today  with  yesterday ;  it  may  be  the  habit  of  tomorrow, 
the  destiny  of  eternity. 

"Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  be  also  reap,"  is  not  abro- 
gated by  a  new  almanac  and  a  clean  diary.  Its  note  is  neither 
drowned  nor  stopped  when  the  bells  of  St.  Paul's  ring  in  the  new- 
year,  and  the  merry-makers  sing  in  the  yard.  Acts  done,  processes 
started,  are  not  arrested  by  the  calendar.  They  will  work  out  their 
consequences.  Life  is  not  lived  in  compartments.  Its  accounts  are 
not  closed  until  the  final  audit.  We  begin  a  new  page  of  the 
ledger,  but  the  first  entry  is  an  item,  "Brought  forward,"  and  the 
life  that  now  is,  is  of  a  piece  with  that  which  is  to  come. 

Men  dig  graves  with  bitter  tears 

For  their  dead  hopes ;  and  all 

Mazed  with  doubts  and  sick  with  fears 

Count  the  hours. 

We  count  the  hours ;  these  dreams  of  ours, 

False  and  hollow, 

Shall  we  go  hence  and  find  they  are  not  dead? — Selected. 

The  worst  sin  is  not  some  outburst  of  gross  transgression,  form- 
ing an  exception  to  the  ordinary  tenor  of  life,  bad  and  dismal  as 
such  a  sin  is;  but  the  worst  and  most  fatal  are  the  small  con- 
tinuous vices  which  root  underground  and  honey-comb  the  soul. 
Many  a  man  who  thinks  himself  a  Christian  is  in  more  danger 
from  the  daily  commission,  for  example,  of  small  pieces  of  sharp 
practice  in  his  business  than  ever  David  was  at  his  worst.  White 
ants  pick  a  carcass  clean  sooner  than  a  lion. — Maclaren. 

This  destroying  process,  observe,  goes  on  quite  independently  of 
God's  judgment  on  sin.  God's  judgment  on  sin  is  another  and  a 
more  awful  fact  of  which  this  may  be  a  part.     But  it  is  a  distinct 


THE  WAGES   OF  SIN  121 

fact  by  itself,  which  we  can  hold'  and  examine  separately,  that  on 
purely  natural  principles  the  soul  that  is  left  to  itself  unwatched, 
uncultivated,  unredeemed,  must  fall  away  into  death  by  its  own 
nature.  The  soul  that  sinneth,  "it  shall  die."  It  shall  die,  not 
necessarily  because  God  passes  sentence  of  death  upon  it,  but  be- 
cause it  cannot  help  dying.  It  has  neglected  "the  functions  which 
resist  death,"  and  has  always  been  dying.  The  punishment  is  in 
its  very  nature,  and  the  sentence  is  being  gradually  carried  out  all 
along  the  path  of  life  by  ordinary  processes  which  enforce  the  ver- 
dict with  the  appalling  faithfulness  of  law. — Prof.  Drummond. 

It  never  pays  to  sin.  Men  think  that  the  devil  will  keep 
his  promises  and  prove  a  good  paymaster,  but  he  never  settles 
with  his  dupes  by  payment  of  anything  that  has  real  value. 
The  costs  of  sin  are  tremendous.  If  the  secrets  of  every  heart 
were  confessed,  the  world  would  not  find  tears  enough  to  shed 
over  the  terrible  devastation  and  ruin  wrought  by  the  total 
sin  of  mankind. — Selected. 

What  is  sin?  A  violation  of  God's  law?  A  breaking 
into  the  harmony  of  the  universe?  A  transgression  of  metes 
and  bounds  which  righteousness  has  laid  down?  Doubtless, 
but  the  definition  is  faulty.  Sin  is  that  which  hurts  God 
because  he  loves  us  so.  A  man  once  told  me  he  learned  the 
definition  of  wrong  from  a  tear  on  his  mother's  cheek.  He 
had  hurt  his  mother's  love.  Ah,  that  brings  us  face  to  face 
with  a  great  truth  before  which  law  and  rule  and  command 
are  almost  insignificant.  To  hurt  my  friend — that  is  sin. 
And  as  I  love  God  more  and  more  with  the  love  which  Christ 
gives  me  I  hate  sin  more  and  more  because  I  cannot  bear 
to  grieve  my  best  friend.  All  this  is  the  salvation  which 
Christ  brings. — Floyd  W.  Tompkins,  D.  D. 

Sinner,  are  you  severing  tares?  You  will  gather  them.  We 
weep  now.  Your  time  for  weeping  is  yet  to  come.  Ours  is 
brief.  Your  weeping  and  wailing  will  be  forever.  Believe, 
therefore,  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come. 
Beware  of  one  sin.  It  may  keep  you  forever  from  the  Savior. 
One  sin  may  rend  character  asunder.  I  saw,  the  other  day, 
in  the  New  Forest,  an  old  oak  near  where  William  Rufus  was 


122  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

killed.  It  was  split  apart  by  a  holly  tree.  The  berry  in  the 
bill  of  a  bird  may  have  dropped  there  in  a  crevice.  Years 
passed  by  and  there  grew  up  another  tree  within  the  oak. 
So  a  cherished  sin  will  ruin  the  soul.  There  is  a  reaping  time 
for  the  righteous,  and  there  will  be  great  joy.  There  is  a 
harvest  of  the  wicked — a  time  of  woe.  In  which  will  your 
soul  be  gathered? — Selected. 

Men  sometimes  persuade  themselves  that  because  there 
are  variations  in  time  and  circumstances  they  can  do  things, 
which  have  brought  ruin  to  others,  from  which  they  will 
escape.  What  happened  to  others  will  not  happen  to  them 
because  circumstances  are  changed.  No  error  is  more  dan- 
gerous. However  circumstances  may  change,  principles 
remain  the  same.  Some  men  boast  of  their  cleverness,  but 
the  grave  is  full  today  of  men  who  perished  because  they 
trusted  in  their  cleverness.  We  fancy  that  men  perish  not 
because  wicked,  but  because  they  are  weak.  And  then  some 
men  presume  on  their  strength.  They  are  strong,  others  are 
weak.  They  are  wise,  they  know  the  ways  of  the  world; 
others  perish  because  they  were  fools  and  ignorant  of  the 
ways  of  the  world.  Men  presume  and  presume  till  there 
comes  a  time  that  they  want  to  stop  their  sinful  ways,  and 
when  they  seek  for  the  brake  they  cannot  reach  it.  Pre- 
sumption has  ruined  the  will.  Don't  sup  with  the  devil,  for 
when  you  have  done  you  will  have  nothing  but  the  bones,  the 
soiled  plate  and  the  bill. — William  Barnes  Lower. 

Again,  sin  always  deceives  by  promised  good  which  is  not 
realized,  as  it  was  expected.  The  knowledge  acquired  is  no 
joy — better  to  have  been  without  it.  We  pursue  some  end 
by  unlawful  means,  and  when  we  have  attained  we  find  the 
word  of  promise  kept  to  the  ear,  and  broken  to  the  hope.  We 
never  get  what  we  expected  by  our  sin ;  or,  if  we  do,  we  get 
something  else  with  it,  which  takes  all  the  gilt  off.  The  man 
who  was  enriched  by  a  handful  of  fairy  gold  found  it  was 
only  withered  leaves  when  he  got  it  into  the  light.  So 
all  sin  mocks  us  with  dangling  a  precious  prize  before  us, 
and  so  luring  us  into  the  slaughter  house,  as  they  do  with 
silly  sheep. 


THE  WAGES   OF  SIN  123 

Its  last  He  is  repeated,  too.  It  blackens  the  character  of 
God,  and  whispers  suspicions  that  his  law  is  harsh,  and  that 
it  shuts  men  out  from  pleasure,  lest  they  should  be  too  happy. 
The  great  love  which  prompts  the  prohibition  is  not  believed. 
We  are  apt  to  think  of  him  as  austere.  So  the  half-reluctant 
soul  is  drawn  by  a  three-fold  cord  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice. 
Strange  that  tricks  so  old,  and  so  often  found  out,  should  yet 
have  power  to  deceive  us  to  our  ruin.  But  so  it  is,  and 
thousands  of  young  men  and  women  today  are  listening  to 
these  old  threadbare  lies  as  if  they  were  glorious  new  truths, 
fit  to  be  the  pole-stars  of  life ! — Alexander  Maclaren. 

Men's  spiritual  eyes  are  prismatic.  God  did  not  make  them 
so.  He  created  Adam  with  soul-eyes  as  perfect  as  those  of 
the  body.  And  he  gives  every  man  natural  faculties  for 
apprehending  the  truth.  But,  alas,  we  keep  filing  at  the 
beautiful  and  perfect  lenses.  By  cultivating  prejudices,  by 
yielding  to  the  influence  of  our  passions,  by  selfishness  and 
pride,  we  make  angles,  thus  changing  the  axis  of  vision  and 
disturbing  our  view  of  the  objects  that  we  see.  This  is  a 
slow  and  steady  process — a  process  of  which  we  are  almost 
unconscious,  but  for  which  we  are  responsible.  Few  of  us 
seek  truth  for  its  own  sake.  Few  of  us  want  to  know  just 
what  is  right,  whether  it  harmonizes  with  our  interests  and 
our  prejudices  or  not.  Hence  we  cherish  obliquity  of  vision, 
and  soon  persuade  ourselves  that  we  do  see  what  we  want 
to  see.  It  is  this  that  our  Savior  referred  to  in  his  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  when  he  said,  "If  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole 
body  shall  be  full  of  light;  but  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole 
body  shall  be  full  of  darkness."  The  inner  eye  is  evil,  imper- 
fect, angular,  when  it  ought  to  be  spherical;  and  hence  our 
hearts  are  full  of  error. — The  Interior. 

"Wherefore  let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed 
lest  he  fall."  (1  Cor.  10:12.)  In  modern  warfare  it  is  now 
accepted  that  with  modern  weapons  a  place  may  be  made 
impregnable  to  a  frontal  or  direct  attack.  That  was  always 
true  concerning  the  citadel  of  our  personality.  It  can  never 
be  overcome  by  outward  assault  alone ;  it  yields  to  the  enemy 
only  when  it  has  been  betrayed.     The  heart's  door  opens  only 


124  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

from  within, — whether  it  be  God  or  the  enemy  who  knocks. 
Nothing  can  readily  happen  to  the  soul  until  it  consents;  the 
universal  sense  of  guilt  is  proof. — J.  A.  Hutton. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  to  sneer  at  the  mention  of  a  "book  of 
remembrance,"'  and  regard  it  as  a  figure  of  speech,  a  fiction 
of  fancy ;  but  it  is  more  difficult,  perhaps,  to  do  away  with 
the  fact  that  there  is  within  ourselves  provision  made  for 
judgment,  if  it  be  true,  as  science  teaches,  that  no  impression, 
emotion,  or  thought  is  ever  completely  forgotten.  We  may 
hide  them  away  in  dark,  secret  chambers  of  the  soul,  but 
there  are  conditions  of  being  in  which  every  action  and 
thought  flame  forth  with  light,  and  stand  out  in  bold  and 
startling  relief  upon  the  background  of  our  lives.  De  Quincy 
relates  an  instance  of  a  girl  of  his  acquaintance  who,  playing 
by  a  stream,  fell  into  one  of  its  deepest  pools.  After  a  time  a 
farmer,  riding  near,  saw  her  rise  to  the  surface,  and  saved  her; 
but  not  until  she  had  "descended  into  the  abyss  of  death,"  and 
looked  into  its  secrets  as  far  perhaps  as  human  eye  can  have 
looked  that  had  permission  to  return.  At  a  certain  point  a 
light  seemed  to  spring  from  her  eyes,  and  in  a  moment  every 
act,  every  design  of  her  past  life  swayed  themselves  before 
her.  It  was  as  if  a  dark  pall  had  been  lifted  from  her  mind, 
and  a  vast  theater  was  exposed  before  her.  Mr.  Moody  and 
many  others  who  have  been  at  the  point  of  death,  relate 
similar  experiences.  Who  shall  say  that  we  need  any  other 
book  out  of  which  to  be  judged  than  the  book  of  memory? — 
Methodist  Protestant. 

Conscience  appears  to  have  a  threefold  office:  First,  it 
is  a  witness,  testifying  what  we  have  done;  second,  a  judge, 
passing  sentence  upon  what  we  have  done ;  third,  it  in  some 
sort  executes  the  sentence  by  complacency  in  the  well-doer, 
and  uneasiness  in  the  evil-doer. — Wesley. 

Conscience  as  judge.  For  this  God  has  placed  it  in  the  soul. 
Even  before  the  judgment  comes  it  forecasts  and  utters  the 
expected  sentence.  Inasmuch  as  every  transgressor  carries 
the  records  of  his  guilt  within  him  he  is  compelled  to  say, 
"What  shall   I  do  when  God  riseth  up,  and  when  he  visiteth 


THE  WAGES   OF  SIN  125 

what  shall  I  answer  him?"  It  is  with  this  fact  in  view  that 
so  many  guilty  ones  have  pronounced  sentence  on  themselves 
before  the  outward  judge  has  spoken.  Like  Judas,  they  have 
heard  their  condemnation  and  inflicted  the  law  penalty  upon 
themselves. — New   York   Observer. 

Those  who  live  in  open  riot.  He  sows  to  the  flesh  who 
pampers  its  unruly  animal  appetites.  Do  not  think  that  I 
speak  contemptuously  of  our  animal  nature,  as  if  it  were  not 
human  and  sacred.  The  lowest  feelings  of  our  nature  become 
sublime  by  being  made  the  instruments  of  our  nobler  emo- 
tions. Love,  self-command,  will  elevate  them  all ;  and  to 
ennoble  and  purify,  not  to  crush  them,  is  the  long,  slow 
v/ork  of  Christian  life.  Christ,  says  St.  Paul,  is  the  Savior 
of  the  body.  But  if,  instead  of  subduing  these  to  the  life  of 
the  spirit,  a  man  gives  to  them  the  rein,  and  even  the  spur, 
the  result  is  not  difficult  to  foresee.  There  are  men  who  do 
this.  They  "make  provision  for  the  flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts 
thereof."  They  whet  the  appetites  by  indulgence.  They 
whip  the  jaded  senses  to  their  work.  Whatever  the  consti- 
tutional bias  may  be, — anger,  intemperance,  epicurism,  indo- 
lence, desire, — there  are  societies,  conversations,  scenes,  which 
supply  fuel  for  the  flame,  as  well  as  opposite  ones  which  cut 
oflF  the  nutriment.  Now,  to  indulge  in  these,  knowing  the 
result,  is  to  foster  the  desire  which  brings  forth  the  sin  that 
ends  in  death.     This  is  "sowing  to  the  flesh." 

If  there  be  one  to  whom  these  words  which  I  have  used, 
veiled  in  the  proprieties  due  to  delicate  reserve,  are  not  with- 
out meaning,  from  this  sentence  of  God's  word  let  him  learn 
his  doom.  He  is  looking  forward  to  a  harvest  wherein  he 
may  reap  the  fruit  of  his  present  anticipations.  And  he  shall 
reap  it.  He  shall  have  his  indulgence;  he  shall  enjoy  his 
guilty  rapture ;  he  shall  have  his  unhallowed  triumph ;  and 
the  boon  companions  of  his  pleasures  shall  award  him  the 
meed  of  their  applause.  He  has  sown  the  seed;  and,  in  fair 
requital,  he  shall  have  his  harvest.  It  is  all  fair.  He  shall 
enjoy.  But  tarry  a  while ;  the  law  hath  yet  another  hold 
upon  him.  This  deep  law  of  the  whole  universe  goes  further. 
He  has  sown  to  the  flesh,  and  of  the  flesh  he  has  reaped  pleas- 


126  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ure;  he  has  sown  to  the  flesh,  and  of  the  flesh  he  shall  reap 
corruption.  That  is,  in  his  case,  the  ruin  of  the  soul.  It  is 
an  awful  thing  to  see  a  soul  in  ruins;  like  a  temple  which 
once  was  fair  and  noble,  but  now  lies  overthrown,  matted 
with  ivy,  weeds  and  tangled  briers,  among  which  things 
noisome  crawl  and  live.  He  shall  reap  the  harvest  of  disap- 
pointment— the  harvest  of  bitter,  useless  remorse.  The.  crime 
of  sense  is  avenged  by  sense,  which  wears  by  time.  He  shall 
have  the  worm  that  gnaws,  and  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched. 
He  shall  reap  the  fruit  of  long  indulged  desires,  which  have 
become  tyrannous  at  last,  and  constitute  him  his  own  tor- 
mentor. His  harvest  is  a  soul  in  flames,  and  the  tongue  that 
no  drop  can  cool;  passions  that  burn,  and  appetites  that 
crave,  when  the  power  of  enjoyment  is  gone  He  has  sowed 
to  the  flesh.  "God  is  not  mocked."  The  man  reaps.'— 
Robertson. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Sin's  Just  Deserts. 

Forty-five  years  ago  a  young  man  in  a  fit  of  anger  com- 
mitted a  murder  in  Connecticut.  Barely  escaping  the  gallows, 
he  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life.  But  he  had  a  true 
friend — his  friend  when  the  crime  was  committed,  his  friend 
through  all  the  years  since,  his  friend  still.  He  has  not  only 
taken  care  of  the  murderer's  family,  but  has  gone  every  six 
months  for  forty-five  years  to  visit  him.  For  an  hour  this 
friend — now  a  millionaire  and  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in 
Connecticut — sits  at  one  end  of  a  long  table ;  the  prisoner  sits 
at  the  other,  while  an  armed  guard  looks  on.  "These  visits," 
declares  the  unfortunate  man,  "are  the  only  bright  spots  in 
my  life."  As  his  rich  friend  turns  to  go  he  says,  with  tearful 
eyes,  "Always  keep  your  temper,  Phil ;  always  keep  your 
temper.     Remember  me." 

Now  here  is  a  noteworthy  thing:  Though  rich  and  having 
strong  political  prestige,  this  friend  refuses  to  make  any  effort 
to  have  the  prisoner  pardoned.  "A  strange  friend  that !"  you 
say.  No,  he  is  both  a  true  and  just  friend — qualities  not  often 
combined  in  such  pre-eminent  fashion  as  in  this  case.  "He 
is  guilty,"  explains  this  tried  and  true  friend  of  more  than 
forty  years ;  "he  knows  he  deserves  his  punishment.  I  do  not 
think  he  himself  would  wish  me  to  go  against  my  conscience 
in  endeavoring  to  procure  his  release."  A  justice  like  that 
must  burn  deeper  than  the  flames  of  hell.  And  yet,  benevo- 
lent sentiment  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  such  justice 
nestles  close  up  to  its  sweet-faced  sister,  named  mercy,  in  the 
great  heart  of  religion.  A  writer  in  the  Hihhert  Journal  puts 
it  in  this  way :  "That  evil  should  be  extenuated  or  proved  not 
to  be,  that  black  should  be  painted  white,  that  the  groaning 
and  travailing  of  creation  should  be  hushed  up  or  put  out  of 
sight — this  is  no  prayer  of  religion.  Things  are  as  they  are; 
new  names  do  not  alter  them.  Evil  is  evil,  pain  is  pain,  death 
is   death;   and   it   is   only  by   accepting   them   in   their  naked 


128  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

reality  that  religion  can  be  true  to  herself.  Let  them  be  what 
they  are,  and  she  will  deal  with  them.  Let  the  sinner  be  a 
sinner,  and  she  will  put  her  arms  around  him;  let  the  sheep 
be  veritably  lost,  and  she  will  recover  them ;  let  evil  come 
armed  to  the  battle,  and  she  will  recover  them ;  let  the  gloom 
thicken,  and  her  radiance  shall  glow  like  the  noonday;  let  life 
be  tragic,  and  she  will  lift  it  up  among  the  stars," 

The  Settlement  Sure. 

Anne  of  Austria  said  to  Richelieu,  "Sir  Cardinal,  God  may 
not  settle  accounts  every  day,  but  he  settles  them  all  at  last!" 

A  Chain  of  His  Own  Making. 
It  is  told  of  a  famous  smith  of  medieval  times  that,  having 
been  taken  prisoner  and  immured  in  a  dungeon,  he  began 
to  examine  the  chain  that  bound  him,  with  a  view  to  discover 
some  flaw  that  might  make  it  easier  to  be  broken.  His  hope 
was  vain,  for  he  found,  from  marks  upon  it,  that  it  was  of  his 
own  workmanship,  and  it  had  been  his  boast  that  none  could 
break  a  chain  that  he  had  forged.  Thus  with  the  sinner;  his 
own  hands  have  forged  the  chain  that  binds  him,  a  chain 
which  no  human  hand  can  break. — The  Sunday  School  Chronicle. 

A  Terrible   Heredity. 

A  special  study  of  hereditary  drunkenness  has  been  made 
by  Professor  Pelman,  of  Bonn  University,  Germany.  His 
method  was  to  take  special  individual  cases,  a  generation  or 
two  back.  He  thus  traced  the  careers  of  children  in  all  parts 
of  the  German  empire,  until  he  was  able  to  present  tabulated 
biographies  of  the  hundreds  descended  from  some  original 
drunkards.  Notable  among  the  persons  described  by  Professor 
Pelman  is  Frau  Ida  Jurka,  who  was  born  in  1740,  and  was  a 
drunkard,  a  thief  and  a  tramp  for  the  last  forty  years  of  her 
life,  which  ended  in  1800.  Her  descendants  numbered  834, 
of  whom  706  were  traced  in  local  records  from  youth  to  death. 
Of  the  700  born.  106  were  born  out  of  wedlock.  There  were 
144  beggars  and  62  more  who  lived  from  charity.  Of  the 
women,  181  lived  disreputable  lives.  There  were  in  the  family 
76  convicts,  seven  of  whom  were  sentenced  for  murder.  In 
the  period  of  some  75  years  this  family  rolled  up  a  bill  of  costs 


THE  WAGES  OF  SIN  129 

in  almshouses,  prisons  and  correctional  institutions  amounting 
to  at  least  5,000,000  marks,  or  about  ^\,2S0, 000. —Medical  Record. 

"Alone,   and   Without   God   in   the   World." 

A  gentleman  told  this  experience  to  some  acquaintances 
in  a  Chicago  hotel : 

"It  happened  in  the  old  Pacific  zinc  mine,  Missouri  Pacific 
depot,  at  Carthage,  Mo.  I  was  in  the  habit  of  going  over  to 
the  mine,  and  sometimes  would  go  down  under  ground  to 
see  how  things  were  progressing.  My  father  was  one  of  the 
owners  at  the  time.  I  went  down  one  morning,  about  noon, 
and  the  men  were  preparing  a  blast,  which  was  to  be  set  oflf 
just  before  the  lunch  hour,  so  as  to  give  the  smoke  time  to 
clear  away  before  they  resumed  their  work  after  dinner.  I 
was  lowered  in  a  bucket,  and  reached  the  200-foot  level.  I 
started  down  the  drift,  which  was  high  enough  to  permit  me 
to  walk  with  ease,  and  passed  the  point  where  the  drift  diverts 
in  two  sections.  I  was  examining  the  walls  for  shines,  as 
the  little  patches  of  zinc  ore  are  called,  when  I  was  startled 
by  a  warning  cry  from  the  miners.  I  started  to  run  to  the 
other  drift,  and  had  no  sooner  reached  it  before  a  heavy  blast 
went  off,  shaking  the  ground  and  filling  the  whole  mine  with 
smoke  and  the  odor  of  powder.  I  was  naturally  stunned  by 
the  explosion,  and  groped  around  trying  to  find  the  shaft,  and 
finally  reached  a  place  where  a  ray  of  light  could  be  seen 
m  the  distance.  It  was  the  hole  that  connected  the  main  shaft 
with  the  level  and  air  shaft  beyond. 

"The  hole  was  just  large  enough  to  permit  a  man  to  crawl 
through,  and  this  was  what  I  attempted  to  do.  I  made  a 
good  beginning,  but  my  head  protruded  in  the  drift  beyond 
when  I  realized  that  I  was  fast.  In  roaming  about  the  main 
level  I  had  gathered  a  number  of  specimens  of  ore  and  put 
them  in  my  coat  pockets,  and  this  was  what  had  caused  the 
trouble.  I  was  fast,  but  in  a  reasonably  comfortable  position, 
as,  after  exhausting  my  strength  calling  for  help,  I  fell  asleep 
from  over-exertion.  I  was  awakened  by  a  roaring  sound,  and 
realized  it  was  a  train  passing  over  the  drift  nearly  200  feet 
above.  A  new  danger  came  into  my  mind.  What  if  they 
should  turn  loose  another  blast?     Located  in  that  ventilation 


130  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

hole  as  I  was,  the  concussion  of  an  explosion  would  be  awful, 
and  probably  fatal.  It  made  me  shudder  to  think  of  it.  I 
made  a  desperate  effort  to  release  myself,  but  could  not.  I 
shouted  for  help  with  all  my  might.  As  I  have  a  good  pair  of 
lungs,  I  succeeded  in  making  myself  heard.  My  absence  had 
been  noted,  and  a  search  had  been  instituted.  It  was  not  long 
before  I  was  on  top  of  mother  earth  again,  and  you  can  rest 
assured  that  that  was  my  last  experience  in  a  zinc  mine.  I 
let  some  one  else  go  down  after  that." — Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"Be  Sure  Your  Sin  Will  Find  You  Out." 

A  number  of  years  ago,  the  police  of  New  York  received 
evidence  which  put  them  on  the  track  of  some  coiners  of 
counterfeit  money.  There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose.  Hastily 
the  counterfeiters  placed  their  material  on  board  a  boat  and 
rowed  out  to  Long  Island  Sound.  When  they  reached  deep 
water  they  flung  overboard  the  implements  of  their  unlaw- 
ful craft.  For  the  time  the  police  were  baffled.  About  a  year 
after  some  oyster  dredgers,  fishing  over  the  very  water  into 
which  the  stamps  and  dies  had  been  cast,  hauled  them  up. 
The  proof  was  at  once  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  police,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  every  member  of  the  gang  was  lodged 
in  prison.  The  sea  gave  up  the  guilt  which  had  been  commit- 
ted to  it. 

The  Wages  of  Wrong  Doing. 

There  is  a  story  of  a  rich  man  who  sent  to  the  country  for 
his  nephew,  whom  he  had-  never  seen.  "I  want  you  to  live 
with  me.  You  are  to  have  everything  you  need,  and  the  very 
best  that  I  can  give  you.  It  is  my  plan  to  make  you  my  heir. 
But  I  must  be  able  to  count  on  you  absolutely.  Living  here 
in  the  house  with  me  and  having  access  to  my  office  at  all 
hours,  you  will  know  many  of  my  business  secrets.  You  must 
make  them  your  secrets.  Defend  them  with  your  life,  if  need 
be,  but  never  give  them  up."  For  a  time  the  nephew  was 
true  to  his  trust ;  then  he  listened  to  a  man  who  offered  him 
money  to  betray  his  uncle's  secrets.  When  his  uncle  discov- 
ered the  treachery  he  sent  the  boy  back  to  his  home.  "I  am 
done  with  you,"  he  said;  '''you  have  betrayed  the  trust  I  have 
committed  to  you." 


THE   WAGES   OF   SIN  131 

Reckless  Disregard  of  Threatened  Consequences. 

The  landslide  which  occurred  some  years  ago  in  the  village 
of  Haverstraw,  on  the  Hudson,  hurled  many  houses  into  a 
clay  pit,  and  many  lives  were  lost.  The  pit  had  been  dug  by 
brickmakers,  and  it  was  seen  that  the  houses  on  the  bluff 
above  were  being  undermined.  Several  times  the  owners  were 
warned  that  they  must  move.  On  the  day  the  catastrophe 
occurred  the  chief  of  police  noticed  a  wide  crack  in  the  street, 
and  he  went  to  each  house  and  warned  the  inmates  to  leave  at 
once.  "Oh !  I  guess  the  bank  will  hold  a  little  longer,"  they 
told  him ;  they  had  become  accustomed  to  the  threatened 
danger,  and  they  did  not  leave.  Even  after  some  houses  had 
collapsed,  people  rushed  into  houses  already  tottering  on  their 
foundations  to  save  some  of  their  property,  and  perished 
miserably. 

Sin  Self-Recording. 

There  is  a  machine  called  the  dynograph,  recently  invented, 
by  which,  as  the  railroad  train  runs  over  the  road,  every  unev- 
enness  in  the  tracks  is  detected  and  registered.  A  roll  of  paper 
is  moved  by  power  received  from  the  wheels  of  the  car. 
Over  this  paper  are  suspended  glass  needles  containing  red 
ink,  one  needle  for  each  track.  If  the  track  is  perfectly  smooth 
and  level  these  needles  make  a  straight  line.  If  there  is 
unevenness  in  the  track,  even  the  slightest,  the  line  is  wavering. 
Thus  the  machine  ingeniously  tells  the  whole  story  of  the 
tracks. 

The  whole  story  of  the  human  life  is  just  as  infallibly 
recorded,  and  no  man  can  pass  through  life  and  hide  one 
thing.  It  is  constantly  being  recorded  to  be  made  known,  and 
the  day  will  come  when  all  will  be  clear  as  crystal. — The  Homiletic 
Review. 

Doom  Comes  at  Last. 

Soon  after  the  great  eruption  of  Mt.  Pelee,  I  visited  the 
ill-fated  island  of  Martinique,  West  Indies,  and  learned  that 
the  people  had  been  warned  over  and  over  again  of  the  danger 
of  the  smouldering,  rumbling  volcano,  but  they  disregarded  the 
warning,  and  the  entire  city  of  St.  Pierre  was  buried  under 
the  lava,  only  sixteen  lives  being  saved. 


132  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  Accounting. 

It  is  the  life  that  counts  for  or  against  Christ.  Some  one 
has  said:  "There  is  a  gospel  according  to  Matthew  and  a 
gospel  according  to  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  but  let  it  not  be 
forgotten  that  there  is  a  gospel  according  to  you,"  and  if 
your  life  does  not  ring  true  with  the  other  gospels  you  shall 
be  called  to  account.  Such  a  life  can  make  real  havoc  of  the 
church. — /.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.  D. 

The  Irrevocableness  of  Sin. 

The  responsibility  created  by  a  wrong  act  cannot  be  put  oflF 
upon  other  men.  "See  thou  to  that."  The  deed  done  is  fin- 
ished, it  cannot  be  recalled.  The  innocent  blood  is  forever 
spilled.  The  irrevocableness  of  our  wrong  acts  is  hard  for 
the  frivolous  to  realize.  It  makes  a  serious,  solemn,  awful 
business,  when  one  is  living  in  sin.  It  is  done;  you  cannot  go 
back. 

The  Losses  of  Sin. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  losses — the  loss  of  things  actually 
possessed  and  the  loss  of  possible  possessions.  A  young  man 
may  have  ten  thouand  dollars,  and  by  dissipation  and  extrava- 
gance lose  it.  But  that  is  probably  only  a  small  part  of  his 
loss.  He  loses  also  what  he  might  have  made  if  he  had  used 
his  capital  wisely;  and  not  only  is  his  loss  merely  a  money 
loss,  but  the  loss  of  a  hundred  other  things  less  palpable  but 
of  much  more  importance.  Or  he  may  have  a  position  of 
trust  and  honor  as  a  clerk;  not  a  high  place,  but  he  commands 
the  confidence  of  his  employer,  and  there  are  indefinite  possi- 
bilities of  advancement  and  honor  before  him.  But  by  one 
dishonest  act  he  may  lose  his  position  and  forfeit  that  confi- 
dence. But  that  is  the  least  part  of  the  loss — for  the  things 
not  yet  possessed,  but  possible  and  probable,  are  also  lost. 
Or  it  may  be  mental  possession,  the  heritage  of  a  good  mind. 
But  through  vice,  by-and-by  his  mind  is  broken.  That  is  an 
unspeakable  loss ;  but  the  loss  involves  also  all  that  he  might 
have  been  able  to  accomplish. 

Retribution. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  a  certain  John  Ribault,  with  about 
four  hundred  companions,  emigrated  from   France   to   Florida. 


THE  WAGES   OF  SIN  133 

They  were  quiet,  inoffensive  people,  and  lived  in  peace  there 
several  years,  cultivating  the  soil,  building  villages,  and  on  the 
best  possible  terms  with  the  natives.  A  powerful  Spanish 
fleet  one  day  bore  down  upon  the  settlement.  The  French 
made  no  resistance ;  they  were  seized  and  flayed  alive,  their 
bodies  hung  out  upon  the  trees,  with  an  inscription  suspended 
over  them,  "Not  as  Frenchmen,  but  as  heretics."  Two  years 
afterwards,  a  certain  privateer,  named  Dominique  de  Gourges, 
secretly  armed  and  equipped  a  vessel  at  Rochelle,  and  stealing 
across  the  Atlantic,  in  two  days  collected  a  strong  party  of 
Indians,  came  down  suddenly  upon  the  forts,  and  taking  them 
by  storm,  slew,  or  afterwards  hanged,  every  man  he  found 
there,  leaving  their  bodies  on  the  trees  on  which  they  had 
hanged  the  Huguenots,  with  their  own  inscription  reversed 
against  them — "Not  as  Spaniards,  but  as  murderers." — Froude. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  Scannell  was 
treacherously  shot  in  the  back  after  he  had  surrendered,  which 
cast  a  gloom  over  the  whole  camp.  When  his  troops  after- 
wards charged  over  the  redoubts,  the  cry  that  inspired  and 
nerved  them  was,  "Remember  .Scannell !" 

Cosimo  I  of  Florence  was  a  ferocious,  cruel  tyrant,  murder- 
ing his  own  son  in  the  presence  of  his  mother.  After  a  few 
years  he  married  a  wicked  but  beautiful  woman,  who  had 
been  a  former  partner  in  sin  with  him,  and  in  his  last  days, 
broken  with  decrepitude,  was  helpless  in  her  despotic  hands. 

Remorse. 

There  is  a  beautiful  eastern  legend  that  well  illustrates 
the  office  of  conscience.  A  great  magician  presented  his  prince 
with  a  ring.  The  gift  was  of  great  value,  not  for  the  diamonds, 
rubies  and  pearls  which  gemmed  it,  but  for  a  rare  and  mystic 
property  in  the  metal.  It  sat  easily  in  ordinary  circumstances, 
but  as  soon  as  the  wearer  formed  a  bad  thought  or  wish  the 
ring  became  a  monitor.  Suddenly  contracting,  it  pressed  pain- 
fully on  the  finger,  warning  him  of  his  danger.  The  ring  of 
that  fable  is  conscience.  God  has  given  it  to  us  all.  We 
disobey  its  voice  and  we  suffer;  we  obey  and  we  have  peace. 

Shakespeare  is  not  only  an  easy  first  in  literature,  but  he 
is  pre-eminently  the  poet  of  conscience.     Macbeth  is  one  of 


134  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

his  greatest  creations.  Macbeth  was  a  great  general  in  th6 
army  of  the  king  of  Scotland,  whose  name  was  Duncan  the 
Meek.  The  evil  thought  had  been  suggested  to  Macbeth  that 
one  day  he  might  wear  the  crown  of  Scotland.  This  he  com- 
municated to  his  wife,  and  she  caught  eagerly  at  the  idea, 
and  spurred  him  on  to  the  committal  of  an  awful  crime. 
Duncan  was  on  a  visit  to  the  castle  of  Macbeth.  Night  came 
and  with  it  a  terrible  storm.  The  king  slept.  Now  was  the 
time  for  the  horrid  deed,  and  when  her  husband  hesitated, 
Lady  Macbeth  urged  him,  until,  by  one  stroke  of  the  dagger, 
he  had  slain  his  monarch.  Then  the  misery,  remorse  and 
suffering  are  most  graphically  and  faithfully  delineated  by 
the  great  dramatist.  Then  we  see  "the  torture  of  the  mind" 
resulting  from  an  outraged  conscience.  The  wretched  mur- 
derer actually  envies  the  dead  king,  and  the  wife  exclaims, 
"Here's  the  smell  of  the  blood  still;  all  the  perfumes  of 
Arabia  will  not  sweeten  this  little  hand." — Harris. 

A  great  genius,  when  weakened  by  dissipation,  on  exam- 
ining one  of  his  books,  written  before  his  faculties  were 
impaired,  exclaimed,  "My  God !  what  a  genius  I  had  when  I 
wrote  that  book !"  All  that  he  might  have  done  by  the  pres- 
ervation of  his  powers  was  lost  through  his  folly.  The  heavy 
forfeitures  of  sin  are  perhaps  the  things  which  we  do  not 
know  that  we  have  lost. 

The  Power  of  Conscience. 

James  Hunter  Wright  appeared  before  Magistrate  Crane  in 
New  York  City  and  announced  that  he  was  ready  to  plead  to 
an  indictment  at  once.  He  said  the  sooner  he  began  serving 
a  term  in  state's  prison,  as  an  atonement  for  his  crimes,  the 
better  satisfied  he  would  feel.  Wright  was  a  partner  in  several 
art  studios  and  stores.  When  business  would  get  a  little 
slack  he  would  burn  out  the  stock,  collect  the  insurance  and 
start  a  new  business  in  another  place.  In  describing  his  feel- 
ings, he  says: 

"That  silent  monitor,  which  tells  us  when  we  have  done 
right  or  wrong,  began  to  work  in  a  little  way  at  first,  and 
then  the  condemnation  overwhelmed  me  and  I  became  the 
most  miserable  of  God's  creatures.     I  could  not  work,  I  could 


THE  WAGES   OF   SIN  155 

not  sleep,   a  voice  kept   urging  me   to  confess   my  crimes   and 
secure  relief.     I   was   too  cowardly  to   end   my  life. 

"I  am  perhaps  the  happiest  man  in  prison.  I  know  now 
the  satisfaction  that  comes  to  those  who  do  right.  I  did  not 
confess  until  after  a  terrible  battle  had  been  fought  between 
my  criminal  instincts  and  conscience.  It  was  an  awful  strug- 
gle. I  knew  there  was  not  the  slightest  chance  of  my  ever 
being  convicted  for  any  crime  I  had  committed,  yet  with  this 
knowledge  I  have  suffered  more  than  the  torture  of  a  thousand 
years  under  the  thumbscrew  during  the  last  two  years  by  the 
persistent  appeals  of  my  conscience  to  acknowledge  the 
wrongs  I  have  done  and  pay  the  penalty." 

Conscience    an    Eternal    Avenger. 

Conscience  as  an  eternal  avenger.  The  Redeemer  has  set 
this  forth  in  the  terrible  symbols  of  the  fire  that  is  not 
quenched,  and  the  worm  that  never  dies.  Memory  can  sleep 
only  for  a  time,  and  must  be  associated  with  this  penal  func- 
tionary in  all  the  disclosures  of  the  future  state.  Few  things 
can  be  imagined  more  painful  than  remembrance  leading  con- 
science as  a  culprit  through  all  the  scenes  of  past  transgres- 
sion ;  bringing  the  seducer  and  his  victims  together ;  the  infidel 
and  his  deceived ;  through  wasted  opportunities  which  might 
have  been  heaven-enriching;  pointing  to  guardian  angels  com- 
pelled to  depart ;  to  the  messenger  of  the  covenant  leading 
to  the  throne  of  mercy  sinned  against  never  to  return.  O 
sinner,  you  may  now  say  to  conscience  as  your  beseeching 
guide,  "Go  thy  way  for  this  time,  and  when  I  have  a  more 
convenient  season  I  will  call  for  thee" ;  but  silenced  and  ban- 
ished now,  yourself  and  this  inward  monitor  must  meet 
beyond  the  border  land,  and  if  not  made  your  friend  will  be, 
according  to  God  and  nature,  your  unending  tormentor, — IVaugh. 

The  Condemnation  of  Conscience. 
It  was  known  to  all  who  understood  Abraham  Lincoln  that 
he  would  accept  no  case  if  he  knew  that  the  client  had  not 
justice  on  his  side.  On  a  certain  occasion  a  man  came  to 
employ  him.  He  explained  his  case.  With  his  eyes  on  the 
ceiling  Lincoln  swung  around  on  his  chair  and  said,  "Well, 
you  have  a  pretty  good  case  in  technical  law,  but  a  pretty  bad 


136  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

one  in  equity  and  justice.  You  will  have  to  get  some  other 
fellow  to  win  this  case  for  you.  I  couldn't  do  it.  All  the 
time  while  standing  talking  to  the  jury  I'd  be  thinking,  'Lin- 
coln, you're  a  liar,'  and  I  should  forget  myself  and  say  it  out 
loud."  He  would  not  stifle  his  conscience  for  a  fat  fee. — 
World. 

Brutus'  Vision. 
Brutus  had  a  vision  of  Caesar,  whom  he  had  murdered.     The 
specter  appeared  when  he  was  anxious  about  the  battle  which 
was   the  crisis  of  his   career,   and   promised   to   meet  him   at 
Philippi,  where  he  afterwards  sustained  disastrous  defeat. 


SERVICE  SIX— Thursday  Evening 
The  Lamb  of  God 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  VI 

IThe  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all. — 
Isa.  33:6. 

And  they  crucified  him. — Matt.  27:33. 

For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no 
I       sin ;  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him. — 2  Cor.  3'2i. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from 
^  all  sin. —  /  ]ohn  1.7. 

/  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
y~   begotten    Son,    that    whosoever    believeth    in    him 

should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. — John 

3:16. 

The  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. — 
Rev.  13-8. 

t Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world. — Johii  i-'2p. 

In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood. — 
Col.  1:14. 

For  he  is  our  peace. — Eph.  2:14. 

Who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity. — Titus  2-14. 

The  precious  blood  of  Christ. — /  Peter  i.ip. 

Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on 
the  tree. — /  Peter  2-24. 

For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just 
for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God. — 
I  Peter  3-18. 

He   was    wounded    for    our    transgressions;    he    was 
;      bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  him;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are 
healed. — Isa  53-3. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

The  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all. — Isa.  53  :6. 

1.  The    guilt;    "this    cup;"    "why    hast    thou    forsaken 

me?" 

2.  The     power;     the     temptation     in     the     wilderness; 

"tempted     *     *     *     yet   without   sin." 
3     The  consequences.     He  died  for  the  ungodly. 

And  they  crucified  him. — Matt.  27:35. 

1.  Our    Substitute;    "the    Lamb   of    God   which    taketh 

away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

2.  Our  Reconciler;  "made  of  two,  one." 

3.  Our  example ;  "let  him  *  *  *  take  up  his  cross  and 

follow  me." 


For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin. —  ^f<^ 
2  Cor.  5:21. 

1.  A  substitute. 

2.  A  sinless  substitute. 

3.  An  all  sufficient  substitute. 


The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. — 
1  John  1  :7. 

1.  Polluted  lives. 

2.  A    cleansing    fountain;    "a    fountain    opened    to    the 

house  of  David ;  for  sin  and  all   uncleanness." 

3.  Complete  cleansing;  "all  sin." 


For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  ^^( 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life. — John  3:16. 

1.  A  measureless  love.  ' 

2.  An  unspeakable  gift. 

3.  An  essential  condition. 

4.  A  glorious  result. 


7 


140  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. — Rev.  13:8. 

1.  God's   remedy   for   sin;   contemplated   from    eternity. 

2.  Provided  in  time. 

3.  Appropriated  by  faith. 

4.  Sung  in  eternity;  "Worthy  is  the   Lamb." 

Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world. — John  1 :29. 

1.  >  Provided  by  God's  grace  for  all. 

2.  Seen  by  the  eye  of  penitent  faith. 

3.  Efficient  for  sin's  removal. 

In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood. — Col.  1 :14. 

1.  Sin  a  bondage;  sinners  slaves. 

2.  Emancipation  through  purchase.  "For  ye  are  bought 
with  a  price,  the  precious  blood  of  Christ." 

3.  The  keynote  of  the   redeemed   life — gratitude. 

For  he  is  our  peace. — Eph.  2:14. 

1.  Sin  is  war;  "enmity  to  God." 

2.  Salvation  is  reconciliation. 

3.  Christ  abolished  the  enmity. — Eph.  2:15,  16. 

Who  gave  hijnself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all 
iniquity. — Titus  2:14. 

1.  The  price  paid:  "himself." 

2.  The  purpose  in  view:  "That  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity;"  (1)  Guilt;  (2)  Power;  (3) 
Consequences;  (4)   Love  of  sin. 

The  precious  blood  of  Christ. — 1   Pet.  1:19. 
Precious  because: 
1.     Christ  was   God. 
^  >(^  2     His  death  was  the  sacrifice  of  infinite  love. 

3.  The  purchase  price  of  a  whole  race. 

Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree. 
—1   Peter  2:24. 

1.  His  death  voluntary. 

2.  Vicarious. 

3.  A  melting  appeal ;  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  *  *  * 
will  draw  all  men  unto  rae." 

4.  A  stimulus  to  fidelity;  "Looking  unto  Jesus  *  *,* 
who  *  *  *  endured   the   cross." 


THE   LAMB   OF   GOD  141 

For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the 
unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God. — 1  Peter  3 :18.  '\^ 

1.  He  died  for  me — the  mighty  fact. 

2.  To  bring  me  to  God — the  influencing  motive. 

3.  My  obligation — to  make  his  death  effective  by  pen-    [^>^ 

itence. 

4.  His    satisfaction — "when    thou    shalt    make    his    soul 

an    offering    for    sin     *     *     he    shall    see    of    the 
travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be  satisfied." 

He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for 
our  iniquities,  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him; 
and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed. — Isa.  53  :5. 

1.  We  sinned  against  him.  V    ^  ^  -^ 

2.  He  suffered  for  us ;  in  our  stead,  ( 

3.  We  are  saved  through  faith  in  him.  ^ 


SUGGESTIONS 

Permanent  results,  in  religious  work,  spring  from  the  com- 
bination of  fervent  spirituality,  and  aggressive  and  systematic 
effort.  This  merely  means  the  co-operation  of  divine  and 
human  forces.  Along  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  must  be 
well  organized  and  tireless  activity. 

The  spiritualized  social  forces  of  a  congregation  will  con- 
tribute largely  to  gaining  spiritual  results. 

The  following  incident,  taken  some  years  ago,  from  The  Golden 
Rule,  is  typical  of  what  can  be  accomplished  for  the  growth  of  the 
kingdom  by  a  thorough  organization  of  social  forces  on  spiritual 
lines: 

One  of  the  churches  in  a  certain  village  was  weak  in  num- 
bers. Why  it  should  be  weak  no  one  seemed  to  know.  It  was 
a  praying  church.  It  believed  in  revivals ;  it  had  them.  Some 
of  the  most  influential  people  in  town  had  been  converted  at 
its  altar.  Apparently  they  had  forgotten  that  they  owed  any- 
thing to  the  little  church  which  had  been  instrumental  in  bring- 
ing them  to  Christ;  for  when  they  were  ready  to  be  received 
into  church  membership  they  joined  the  "other  church."  The 
members  of  the  little  church  were  disposed  to  criticise  them  for 
so  doing  and  to  declare  that  it  was  because  membership  in  the 
other  church  was  the  fashion.  Once  in  a  while  one  of  them 
would  whisper  that  a  want  of  religion  was  the  reason  that 
these  converts  did  not  stay  with  the  people  among  whom  they 
had  been  converted. 

The  weak  church  had  a  new  pastor.  The  new  pastor  was  a 
curiosity.  "What  do  you  think  he  will  be  like?"  asked  Sister 
Fish  of  Brother  Haddock,  as  they  entered  the  church  the  first 
Sabbath  morning.  "Like  Christ,  I  hope,"  was  Bro.  Haddock's 
reply. 

The  new  pastor  overheard  the  conversation  and  he  breathed 
a  silent  prayer  that  pastor  and  people  might  indeed  be  like  their 
Lord.  The  new  pastor  resolved  to  study  the  situation.  He  did 
not  believe  that  it  was  wholly  want  of  religion  which  led  the 


THE   LAMB   OF  GOD.  143 

majority  of  the  new  converts  into  other  folds.  The  new  ^pastor 
was  a  young  man.  He  found  that  his  next-door  neighbor  was 
a  young  man.  They  met  the  morning  after  the  first  Sunday. 
These  were  the  first  words  that  the  new  pastor  heard,  "Good 
morning;  I'm  glad  to  know  you,  I  was  at  your  church  yester- 
day; thought  I'd  go  to  hear  the  new  minister,  you  know.  I  al- 
ways like  to  go  there.  Fact  is,  I  was  converted  there,  though 
I  joined  the  big  church  on  the  hill." 

This  young  minister  and  young  layman  were  members  of 
different  denominations,  but  in  course  of  time  a  warm  personal 
friendship  sprang  up  between  them. 

"Frank,"  said  the  young  pastor  one  day,  *T  want  to  know 
why  you  did  not  unite  with  the  church  where  you  were  con- 
verted. Was  it  because  you  did  not  believe  the  doctrines  of 
our  church,  or  was  it  some  rule  of  church  government  that  you 
did  not  like  that  led  you  to  take  the  course  you  did  after  con- 
version?" 

"No,"  said  Frank,  "I  always  liked  the  polity  of  your  church, 
and  so  far  as  I  understand  the  doctrines  of  the  two  churches,  I 
am  more  in  accord  with  those  of  your  denomination  than  I  am 
with  those  of  my  own.  Neither  did  I  go  to  the  big  church 
because  it  was  the  thing  to  be  connected  with  it.  When  my  par- 
ents moved  into  town  we  were  not  church-going  people.  We 
had  not  been  here  long,  however,  when  we  were  visited  by  a 
committee  from  the  'big  church.'  They  seemed  anxious  that 
we  should  become  regular  attendants.  We  did  not  go  at  once, 
and  other  members,  sent  out,  as  I  afterward  learned,  by  this 
same  committee,  called  upon  us.  Soon  after  this,  mother  was 
taken  sick,  and  still  another  committee,  organized  for  this  pur- 
pose, came  to  see  her  and  rendered  us  very  needed  help.  Well, 
the  long  and  short  of  it  was,  we  never  forgot  it.  They  somehow 
made  us  feel  at  home  when  we  were  strangers  in  the  place. 
That  home  feeling  never  left  me.  When  I  thought  about  unit- 
ing with  the  church,  although  I  had  been  converted  among  your 
people,  the  big  church  seemed  still  to  be  my  church  home. 
This,  as  near  as  I  can  get  at  it,  is  the  reason  I  united  with 
that  church  after  my  conversion." 


144 


THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 


This  conversation  furnished  the  new  pastor  a  key  to  the  sit- 
uation. He  thought  he  saw  that  his  church  was  weak  in  num- 
bers because  it  had  been  content  to  work  only  in  the  prayer- 
meeting  service.  It  was  not  a  want  of  piety,  but  poor  meth- 
ods, which  had  kept  his  church  weak  in  the  past.  He  resolved 
to  apply  a  remedy.  His  first  effort  was  to  organize  his  young 
people  into  a  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor.  The  first  work 
he  asked  them  to  do  was  to  make  a  careful  canvass  of  the 
town.  Each  member  took  a  certain  street.  With  a  printed 
form,  headed  like  the  following: 


Name  of  Canvasser- 


Names  of 
Families 


No.  of 
Street 


Their  Church 
Connection 


No.  of 
Children 


they  went  from  house  to  house.  At  the  end  of  three  weeks  the 
young  pastor  had  a  map  before  him  which  revealed  at  a  glance 
the  opportunities  for  work  which  every  household  on  every 
street  in  town  would  offer  to  his  church.  Then  commenced 
the  work  of  a  large  outlook  and  visitation  committee.  Very 
soon  the  attendance  upon  the  morning  service  began  to  show 
a  marked  increase.  The  Sunday-school,  the  total  membership 
of  which  had  never  been  over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five, 
soon  increased  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-six.  The  Endeavor 
Society,  organized  with  seventeen  active  members,  at  its  first 
anniversary  showed  a  total  increase  of  seventy  members.  Best 
of  all,  there  was  a  revival  during  the  last  part  of  the  year  which 
added  fifty  new  members  to  the  church.  The  older  people 
caught  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  to 
such  a  degree  that  "all  at  and  always  at  it"  became  the  motto 
of  the  entire  church.  As  a  result,  the  little  church  became,  in 
a  few  years,  as  strong  as  the  "big  church"  on  the  hill, 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Nothing  has  ever   convinced   the  world   of  forgiveness   like 
the  cross  of  Christ.     Nothing  has  so  melted  the  hard  unbelief 
with  which  fear  and  sin  have  surrounded  our  nature,  as  this 
sweet    message    of    God's    redemption,    in    giving   up    his    only   i 
Son  for  us  all.     Like  the  ice  upon  some  Alpine  peak  that  has 
resisted  the  stormy  winds  of  winter,  but  flows  down  in  spark- 
ling rivulets  when  the  warm  breezes  of  spring  blow,  so  hearts 
long  congealed  with  fear  and  remorse  will  melt  and  flow  down   I 
in  gentle  grief  and  holy  aspiration  because  of  the  warm  influ-  I 
ence  of  divine  love.     The  changed   spirit  begins  to  thrill  with  ' 
the  emotions  of  pardon  and  expectancy,  as  we  hear  of  this  trans- 
action   of    infinite    pity    revealed    in    the    Savior's    death.      The 
cross  proclaims  the  release,  which  all  who  have  fallen  under 
the  bondage  of  sm  require.     And  there  can  be  no  more  peace-  f 
ful,  no  morestimuIating~message  than  that  which  the  church  / 
is  emboldened  to  give  because  of  this  cross,  "I  believe  in  thej 
forgiveness  of  sins." — Falconer. 

Froude,  in  describing  Newman's  preaching  at  Ofto^d,  tells 
how  once  he  described  closely  some  of  the  incidents  'of  our 
Lord's  passion ;  he  then  paused.  For  a  few  moments  there  was 
a  breathless  silence.  Then,  in  a  low,  clear  voice,  of  which  the 
faintest  vibration  was  audible  in  the  farthest  corner  of  St. 
Mary's,  he  said,  "Now  I  bid  you  recollect  that  he  to  whom 
these  things  were  done  was  Almighty  God."  It  was  as  if  an 
electric  stroke  had  gone  through  the  church,  as  if  every  person 
present  understood  for  the  first  time  the  meaning  of  what  he 
had  all  his  life  been  saying.  I  suppose  it  was  an  epoch  in  the 
mental  history  of  more  than  one  of  my  Oxford  contemporaries. 
— Selected.  \  , 

"A  God  on  a  cross/'  cried  Lacordaire,  "that  is  all  my 
theology!"  At  least  itis  the"  heart  of  all  theology.  "God  was 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himseff,  not  recTconmg' 
untoT^m^  theif  tr^spasses7~"and-  having  '  committed  ifiTED~~Tis 
the  word  of  reconciliation.    We  are  ambcTssaduis-  tlieiefofe'on> 


146  THE    PASTOR    HIS    OWN    EVANGELIST. 

/■  behalf  of  Christ,  as  though  God  were  entreating  by  us:  we 
beseech  you  on  behalf  of  Christ,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God. 
Him  who  knew  no  sin  he  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf;  that 
we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him." — Life  in  His 
Name. 

Several  years  ago  I  had  the  good  fortune  one  day  to  drop 
in  to  Dr.  Wm.  M.  Taylor's  church  when  he  was  delivering  a 
sermon  commemorative  of  some  anniversary  in  his  ministry. 
It  was  then  I  first  heard  the  illustration  of  that  word  of  Paul 
which  Dr.  Taylor  made  famous.  He  said  that  Jesus  became  a 
pivot  for  the  preaching  of  Paul,  a  center  from  which  he  could 
sweep  the  entire  circle  of  human  knowledge  and  learning,  as 
the  hands  on  the  face  of  your  clock  sweep  the  circle  of  all  the 
hours  of  the  day,  and  yet  are  pivoted  at  the  center  and  never 
move  from  it.  At  any  moment  of  the  day,  you  may  start 
from  the  end  of  the  clock  hands  and  trace  back  an  unbroken 
connection  with  the  pivot  whence  comes  the  power  of  motion. 
At  any  point  in  the  preaching  of  Paul,  however  remote 
it  might  seem  to  be,  you  might  trace  back  an  unbroken 
connection  with  the  crucified  Christ.  It  was  in  this  sense 
that  he  preached  Christ  only. — McAfee. 

Oh,  that  this  misled  and  blindfolded  world  would  see  that 
Christ  doth  not  rise  and  fall,  or  stand  or  lie  by  men's  appre- 
hensions !  What  is  Christ  the  lighter,  that  men  do  with  him 
by  open  proclamation  as  men, do  with  clipped  and  light  money? 
They  are  now  crying  down  Christ  *  *  '  *  *  But  the  Lord 
hath  weighed  him  and  balanced  him  already:  "This  is  my 
beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ;  hear  ye  him !"  This 
worth  and  weight  stand  still.  It  is  our  part  to  cry,  "Up,  up 
-with  Christ,  and  down,  down  with  all  created  glory  before 
him !"  Oh,  that  I  could  heighten  him,  and  heighten  his  name, 
and  heighten  his  throne ! — Rutherford. 

*  The  blood  of  the  purest,  wisest,  holiest  being  that  ever  lived 
on  the_earth  _\vas  sited,  that  welffig|:it'"T3e^'jnadig"  free  fromsin. 
He  came  to  proclaim  liberty.  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is 
upon  me,  because  the  Lord  hath  anointed  me  *  *  *  to 
proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  that  are  bound."    Jesus  is  the  great  liberator, — Selected. 


THE  LAMB   OF  GOD  147 

What  we  need  is  more  of  Jesus.  More  of  him  in  the  pulpit 
and  the  home.  More  of  him  in  life,  in  business,  more  of  Jesus 
everywhere.  We  want  less  words,  less  argument,  less  state- 
ment, less  orthodoxy  and  more  Christ.  We  have  got  theory 
and  argument  and  we  have  been  fighting  over  heads  and  starv- 
ing over  souls,  and  nobody  feeds  the  soul  of  Jesus.  You  don't 
feed  your  soul  with  a  dictionary;  you  feed  your  soul  with  the 
presence  of  a  risen  Christ.  We  want  more  of  Jesus.  It  was 
Jesus  the  people  came  for,  and,  remember,  the  people  know  the 
difference  between  Jesus  and  the  caricature ;  they  know  the 
difference  between  life  and  a  statue ;  they  know  the  difference 
between  pictures  and  spirit;  they  know  the  difference  between 
words  and  hearts,  and  they  know  when  you  are  talking  about 
him  and  when  you  are  theorizing  and  when  you  have  lost  him. 
They  know.  You  cannot  deceive  a  hungry  heart.  It  won't 
take  a  stone  when  it  needs  bread.  They  were  hungry  for 
Christ  and  they  crowded  around  him.  What  a  multitude !  It 
is  always  so.  Give  him  the  right  of  way.  Here  is  a  recipe 
for  filling  your  own  deserted  city  churches.  Let  the  people 
who  go  there  get  so  like  Christ  that  the  people  who  know 
them  can't  get  away  from  them.  I'm  not  so  sure  that  a  dog 
doesn't  know. — Gipsy  Smith. 

In  the  provisions  of  the  gospel,  through  the  incarnation 
and  atonement  oT^sus  Christ,  God  has  met,  unconditionally, 
the  needs  of  the  human  soul.  He  stooped  to  our  helplessness, 
and  did  that  Torus^us  which  we  could  not  do  for  ^ourselves, 
and  did  it  generously,  royally,  divinely.  In  the  face  of  all  our 
wickedness,  God  willed  our  salvation,  and  provided  salvation 
'from  all  sin  for  all  n\en.  As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ,  the 
second  man,  all  are  made  alive,  potentially.  '"Where  sin  abound- 
ed, grace  did  much  more  abound.  That  as  sin  hath  reigned 
unto  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness." 
(Rom.  5:20,  21.)  The  righteousness  of  God  is  declared  and 
vindicated  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  imparted  unto  us  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  the  power  of  a  righteous  life — unto  eternal  life  by  Jesus/ 
Christ  our  Lord. — Spreng. 

The  forgiveness  of  sins  is  communicated  to  us  in  the  form 
of  a  universal   proclamation.     It   applies   to   all    men,   without 


< 


148  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

respect  to  race  or  moral  condition.  To  the  Jew  and  to  the  Gen- 
tile, to  the  foulest  sinner  as  well  as  to  the  most  upright  of 
men.  Wherever  sin  is  found  there  the  forgiveness  of  God 
reaches.  And  since  "all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God,"  the  grace  of  God  abounds  in  the  forgiveness 
of  all  men  in  Christ.  It  vi^as,  therefore,  our  Master's  charge, 
"that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in 
his  name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem."  (Luke 
24:47.) 

The  forgiveness  of  sins  is  an  unconditional  gift  from  God 
to  all  men,  whether  they  accept  or  reject  it.  That  is,  it  is  not 
proclaimed  to  them  on  condition  of  repentance  and  faith.  Just 
as  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  the  gift  of  God  to  the  world 
without  any  condition  of  their  acceptance  or  rejection  of  him 
as  Savior. — Geo.  F.  Pentecost,  D.  D. 

We  are  told  that  "where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more 

/  abound."     (Rom.  5 :20.)     The  multitude  of  God's  mercies  are 

/    likened   unto   the   sands   of   the   seashore,   and    so   though    our 

sins  be  as   multitudinous  as  the   sands,   God's   mercies  are  as 

many.     Count  them  as  we  may,  the  number  of  our  sins  cannot 

outnumber   the   multitude  of  his   mercies.     As   for   the   depths 

and  vileness  of  them,  we  have  only  to  remember  that  he  has 

called  us  into  council  to  reason  with  us  about  them.     "Though 

your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though 

\    they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool"   (Isa,   1:18). 

No    dyes    are    more    ineradicable    than    scarlet    and    crimson ; 

J    indeed,   no  chemistry   is  know  by  which   these   colors  can  be 

!    extracted  from  the  fabric  into  which  they  have  penetrated;  but 

i     though  our  sins  be  like   unto  these,   there  is  a   chemistry  in 

J     God's    grace    which    can    wash   them    from    our    souls.     When 

God's   forgiveness   enters,   it  comes   with   all   the   atoning   and 

!     cleansing  efBcacy  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  cleanseth 

\    us  from  all  sins  and  uncleanness.     Let  no  one  say,  "My  sins 

\    are  too  numerous  or  too  black   to  be  forgiven";  for   that   is 

i 

\  to   limit   the   grace   and  power   of   God,   and   to   "disgrace   his 
"^  glory"  (Jer.  14:21),  which  is  revealed  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 
"(2  Cor.  3:18.) 


THE   LAMB    OF   GOD  149 

A  condemned  traitor  who  had  gone  stolidly  to  the  scaffold 
with  hatred  in  his  heart  toward  the  king  against  whom  he  had 
rebelled,  on  receiving  from  that  king  a  full  and  free  pardon  and 
the  restoration  of  all  his  forfeited  estates,  would  most  likely 
be  broken-hearted  with  gratitude.  Do  you  think  that  hence- 
forth such  a  man  would  be  afraid  of  his  sovereign?  He  would 
fear  to  offend  him,  fear  to  do  aught  but  love  and  serve  him, 
not  that  he  would  dread  the  headsman's  block  again,  but 
because  he  would  remember  his  sovereign's  mercy.  The  law 
with  the  hammer  of  its  curse  may  break  a  heart  of  ice,  but 
every  particle  would  still  be  ice.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
gospel  melts  the  heart  of  ice  and  sends  it  forth  to  the  very  feet 
of  God,  a  river  of  grateful  love. 

Have  you  sought  unto  this  forgiveness;  or  are  you  abiding 
in  unforgiven  sin  ?  There  is  much  loose  popular  thinking 
about  God ;  that  he  is  too  good-natured  to  punish  sinners ; 
that  we  may  be  sure  of  coming  off  easy  in  his  hands ;  that  there 
is  no  need  to  be  afraid  of  him,  or  the  consequences  of  our 
sin.  Let  me  remind  you  that  it  is  said  of  God — yea,  he  said 
it  of  himself  in  the  same  breath  that  proclaimed  mercy  for 
thousands  and  forgiveness  to  transgressors  and  sinners — that 
he  will  "by  no  means  clear  the  guilty." — Grace  Abounding. 

The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  came  as  a  satisfying  answerv 
to  that  long  and  passionate  cry  for  heart-purity.  It  said, 
"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world !"  St.  Paul  had  sounded  the  depths  of  the  JewJIsh  heart ; 
he  understood  the  mission  of  his  race  to  be  the  voice  crying 
for  moral  purity  in  the  wilderness  of  the  world.  As  a  Jew 
he  cried  out,  "O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver 
me  from  the  body  of  this  death?"  He  likewise  knew  of  a 
satisfaction  when  God  revealed  the  remedy  for  his  ailment  of 
sin,  and  he  shouted,  "Thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ!"  He  took  as  his  mes- 
sage to  the  world  that  "He  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us, 
who  knew  no  sin ;  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him." — Selected. 

The  de^t-h  of  Christ  was  a  voluntary  act.  "I  lay  down  my 
life,  that  I  might  take  it  again.     No  man  taketh  it  from  me, 


150  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself."  It  was  an  act  of  supreme  and 
awful  moral  energy  and  of  immense  self-sacrifice.  It  was  a 
voluntary  transition  from  life  in  one  sphere  to  life  in  another 
sphere;  and  to  whatever  blessedness  he  was  passing,  and  from 
whatever  misery,  the  transition  itself  was  an  agony;  it  was  the 
rending  asunder  of  the  very  constituents  of  his  nature. 

May  we  venture  to  think  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  that 
supreme  act  by  which  Christ  separated  himself  from  his  life  in 
the  flesh  and  passed  to  his  life  in  God  that  we,  too,  make  the 
transition  from  the  lower  to  the  diviner  life?  Does  his  great 
act,  in  virtue  of  our  union  with  him,  carry  ours  with  it?  Is 
this  a  partial — though  it  can  only  be  a  partial — account  of  the 
mystery? — R,  W,  Dak, 


"Christ  suffered!"  That  is  the  key-note.  These  believers 
were  suffering — suffering  for  well-doing.  Suffering  for  con- 
N.  \  science's  sake.  And  they  were  in  heaviness  through  manifold 
trials.  So  the  apostle  reminds  them  that  Christ  also  suffered. 
How  sweet  is  that  little  word  also!  Caesar  was  wont  to  cheer 
his  troops  by  addressing  them  as  fellow-soldiers.  Such  is  the 
force  of  this  word.  Are  you  homeless?  Christ  also  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head.  Are  you  poor?  Christ  also  for  our 
sakes  became  poor.  ^Are  you  tempted?  Christ  also  hath  suf- 
\  fered,  being  tempted. 

/      But  Christ's  sufferings  are  unique!    Though  he  was  right- 
eous,  he  suffered  as  no  other  one  has  for  sins;  for  it  is  clearly 
\   taught  here  that  he  suffered  as  a  substitute,  "the  just  for  the 
\unjust." 

It  is  quite  true,  as  we  are  so  often  told,  that  the  death  of  the 
f  Lord  Jesus  has  had  a  great  moral  effect  upon  men,  revealing 
1  the  love  of  God,  teaching  the  law  of  self-sacrifice,  showing  how 
keenly  sin  makes  itself  felt  in  the  holy  sensitive  nature  of 
eternal  love.  But,  besides  this  subjective  side  of  our  Savior's 
death,  there  is  another,  an  objective  one.  He  has  not  only 
done  something  towards  men,  softening  and  moving  them  to 
thoughts  of  unselfishness,  and  deeds  of  heroism,  to  which 
otherwise    they    must    have    been    forever    strangers;    but    he 


THE   LAMB    OF   GOD  151 

has  done  something  also  toward  the  satisfaction  of  the  great   /  ^ 
laws  of  the  divine  nature,  which  make  for  righteousness. — F.  B.  | 
Meyer.  "^ 

Christ  is  before  us  as  the  perfect  man.  The  -accusations  of 
his  enemies  have  left  no  impression  on  the  world.  He  stands 
alone.     Men  admire,  they  praise,  but  they  live  on  in  sin. 

Christ  is  before  us  as  the  great  teacher.  Never  man  spake 
as  this  man.  No  false  lesson  of  right  was  ever  taught.  No 
revelation  of  God  not  sustained  by  the  world's  conscience  was 
ever  made.  No  unworthy  motive  was  ever  offered  to  stimu- 
late men  to  do  his  will.  No  word  of  his  wisdom  has  been 
set  aside  by  the  world's  philosophy.  No  addition  has  been 
made  to  his  ethical  code.  And  yet  men  live  on  in  sin,  far 
away  from  the  life  of  Jesus.  But  Jesus  on  the  cross  draw^' 
men  to  him. 

It  is  no  new  thing,  for  it  has  been  tried 'XDver  and  over  for 
hundreds  of  years.  What  have  men  against  the  cross?  Who 
can  tell?  The  Bishop  of  Liverpool  says,  "In  apostolic  days 
men  advocated  a  gospel  without  the  cross.  But  St.  Paul 
would  have  none  of  it.  In  the  fourth  century  Arius  taught 
a  Christianity  without  a  perfectly  divine  Savior,  and  the 
church  would  have  none  of  it.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
Renaissance,  intoxicated  by  the  discovery  of  Greek  and  Roman 
literature,  despised  the  'jargon  of  St,  Paul,'  and  would  have 
paganized  Christianity,  but  the  Reformation  brought  northern 
Europe  back  to  the  scriptures  and  to  Christ.  Today  men  are 
proclaiming  a  gospel  without  the  supernatural.  They  are 
asking  us  to  be  content  with  a  perfect  human  Christ;  with 
a  Bethlehem  where  no  miracle  was  wrought;  with  a  Cal- 
vary which  saw  sublime  self-sacrifice,  but  no  atonement  for 
sin ;  with  a  sepulcher  from  which  no  angel's  hand  rolled  away 
the  stone.  But  we  must  have  none  of  it.  We  will  hold  fast,  / 
we  will  transmit  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints.  / 
We  will  hand  down  to  our  children,  we  will  proclaim  to  all 
the  tribes  of  the  earth,  Christ  incarnate,  atoning,  risen,  ascend-  / 
ing,  our  intercessor  at  God's  right  hand,  waiting  to  come  again  ^' 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead." — Herald  and  Presbyter. 


152  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST  «« 

Sacrifice  is  the  a  and  z  and  all  the  vowels  and  consonants 
in  between,  of  motherhood.  But  it  is  a  sacrifice  that  spells 
love  out  bigger  and  brighter,  and  in  the  spelling  rings  the 
music  of  it  sweeter  and  clearer  than  any  other.  Sacrifice 
is  love  at  its  best.  There  is  no  other  spirit  for  motherhood; 
no  other  key  to  unlock  its  doors ;  no  other  solution  of  its 
tangling  problems ;  no  other  sure  weapon  to  lay  its  foes  low  in 
the  dust.  And  no  other  inspiration  is  equal  to  it  for  holding 
you  steady  and  true,  true  and  steady  in  the  fierce  undertow 
of  the  tide  of  life.  Aye,  and  no  chambered  symphony  can 
equal  its  low,  sweet  music;  and  nothing  else  can  bring  the 
rich,  heart-satisfying  results  in  the  twilight  of  life's  evening. — 
5".  D.  Gordon. 

The  cross  of  Christ  is  a  perpetual  monument  of  God's  love 

to  the  human  race.     To  those  who  perish  the  cross  of  Christ 

is  foolishness,  but  to  those  who  are  saved  it  is  the  power  of 

God  and  the  wisdom  of  God.     Prophecies,  promises,   symbols 

and  sacrifices  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  pointed  to  this  cross, 

\     and  have  had  their  completed  fulfillment  in  it.     The  regenera- 

\   tion  of  men  and  of  nations  point  to  this  as  the  means  of  their 

J  triumph. 

r         The  cross  of  Christ  is  a  symbol  of  life,  of  light  and  of  glory. 

\      This  is  the  light  to  which  the  nations  will  come.       Here   is 

I      where  men  find  the  true  life,  and  catch  glimpses  of  superlative 

I     glory.     The   cross   of   Christ   is   an   emblem   of  beauty   and   of 

\    purity.     It  is   also  the   embodiment   of   the   loftiest   principles, 

\.noblest  impulses,  and  grandest  inspiration. — Selected. 


r 


) 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Blood  of  the  Lamb. 
There  was  pardoned  from  the  Federal  prison  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth   a    man    whose    release    was    sought    by    fifty    thousand 
persons  in  a  petition   sent   to    President    Roosevelt.     He   will 
endeavor  to  have  his   citizenship   restored,   and,   if   successful, 
will  ask  the  courts  to  change  his  name  for  the  protection  of 
his  wife  and  child.    ^Fuman  courts  of  law  may  pardon  and  set 
a  man  free  from  the  hand  of  the  law,  buTlh'ey  carmoFl^ib  out 
the  stam  of  sin,  or  remove  the  guilt.     There  is  only  one  who  i    , 
can  do  this.     The~'BTood~or7esifs~Christ,  his  Son,  cTeanses  us  /  'T' 
from  all  sin.     When  we  accept  Jesiis^Chfrst"as"  a~Savior  he  at  I 
once  adopts  us  into  his  family.    We-afe-fnade^air  heir  to  alt  J 
his  benefits. — IVmT'EamerT^wef. 

The  Power  of  the  Cross. 

Missionary  Richards  in  the  Congo  valley  seemed  unable 
to  bring  his  hearers  to  an}'^  sense  of  sin  or  any  wish  for  pardon 
by  his  most  faithful  preaching  of  the  ten  commandments  and 
the  law  written  in  every  man's  heart.  It  was  only  when  the 
natives  came  in  sight  of  the  cross  of  Christ  and  saw  what 
sin  means  to  God  that  they  learned  what  it  ought  to  mean 
to  themselves. 

None  of  us  realizes  what  it  means  for  a  man  to  be  lost, 
but  we  can  guess  something  of  its  meaning  when  we  think 
what  God  did  about  it.  A  little  while  ago,  a  famous  surgeon 
was  brought  from  Austria  to  the  city  of  Chicago  to  perform 
an  operation  on  the  little  daughter  of  a  wealthy  man.  The 
papers  reported  that  his  fee  was  $20,000.  It  was  a  long  jour- 
ney, and  involved  immense  cost.  I  do  not  know  what  was 
the  matter  with  the  little  one.  I  know  it  was  no  scratched 
finger,  no  bruised  forehead  from  her  play.  Whatever  it  was, 
I  know  it  must  have  been  something  serious,  because  of  what 
the  father  did  about  it. 

It  is  this  which  demands  our  preaching  Christ.  We  must 
preach  him  as  the  atoning  Savior  who  claims  headship  over  the 


154  THE    PASTOR    HIS    OWN    EVANGELIST. 

church  and  over  every  man.  We  must  preach  him  winsomely, 
strongly,  completely,  the  full-orbed  Christ.  But  we  must 
preach  him,  him — constantly.  One  Sunday  afternoon  I  came 
out  of  the  Brick  church  in  New  York  with  a  great  throng  who 
had  been  listening  to  Dr.  Babcock.  There  were  evidently  a 
great  many  strangers,  some  of  whom  were  there  from  curios- 
ity. Just  before  me  were  two  men,  unaccustomed  to  the  place. 
I  heard  one  say  to  the  other,  "Well,  what  did  you  think  of 
him?"  The  second  roused  himself  from  his  meditation,  and 
said  earnestly,  "What  did  I  think  of  him?  I  do  not  know  what 
I  thought  of  him.  But  I  know  I  think  more  of  God  for  what 
he  said."  The  next  day  I  told  Dr.  Babcock  what  I  had  heard 
and  he  was  glad.  His  ministry  had  accomplished  its  end. — 
McAfee. 

The  Appeal  of  the  Cross. 
When  St.  Remy  was  preaching  before  King  Clovis,  of 
France,  telling  with  passionate  pathos  the  story  of  Christ's 
suffering  and  death,  the  monarch  suddenly  sprang  from  his 
throne,  and  grasping  his  spear  cried,  "Had  I  been  there  with 
my  brave  Franks,  I  would  have  avenged  his  wrongs."     - 

The  Cleansing  Blood. 
^  When  the  Emperor  Hadrian  assumed  the  purple  he  learned 
^  that  extensive  frauds  had  been  perpetrated  in  connection  with 
the  revenue  returns.  Some  of  those  who  were  implicated 
were  among  the  foremost  citizens  in  Rome.  The  Emperor 
might  have  proceeded  against  them  in  justice ;  he  preferred 
to  extend  to  them  his  prerogative  of  mercy.  He  ordered  his 
officers  to  bring  into  the  Forum  all  those  books  which  held 
the  record  of  the  guilt  of  the  Roman  knights.  With  his  own 
hand,  he  placed  them  in  a  huge  fire,  and  watched  until  they 
were  consumed.  But  he  could  not  take  away  the  fraudulent 
transactions.  He  might  destroy  the  record  of  his  subjects' 
guilt,  but  he  could  not  take  the  dishonor  out  of  their  lives. 
Till  their  dying  hour  they  would  be  shamed  men,  avoided 
by  all  who  knew.  His  forgiveness  would  have  been  complete, 
had  he  been  able  to  remove  the  stain.  This  Christ  does.  We 
are  justified  "by  his  blood."     (Rom.  5  :9.) 


THE  LAMB   OF   GOD  155 

Guests  at  the  King's  Dinner. 
Rev.  Harvey  Wood  reports  this  incident,  which  is  touching 
and  suggestive: 

He  was  standing  in  the  open  air  in  High  Barnetj  one  of 
the  suburbs  of  London,  on  Sabbath  evening,  Juiy  13,  1902, 
listening  to  an  earnest  appeal  that  was  being  made  by  the 
canon  of  the  Anglican  church,  when  he  related  the  following 
incident  that  occurred  eight  days  before.  King  Edward  VH 
of  England  gave  a  dinner  to  tens  of  thousands  of  poor  in 
commemoration  of  his  coronation.  All  London  and  the  coun- 
try for  miles  around  had  been  scoured  to  find  the  guests  for 
the  king's  dinner.  Royal  princesses,  princes,  dukes,  lords  and 
ladies,  officers  of  the  army  which  had  just  returned  from 
South  Africa,  waited  upon  the  king's  guests.  It  was  a  sight 
never  to  be  forgotten.  ^  , 

Among  the  royal  guests  were  an  old  man  and  his  wife, 
who  had  come  up  to  partake  of  the  king's  hospitality,  from 
one  of  the  rural  districts.  It  was  learned  that  the  aged  couple 
had  just  managed  to  keep  body  and  soul  together  long  enough 
to  partake  of  the  king's  dinner,  after  that  they  intended  to 
enter  the  poorhouse.  They  had  sold  their  household  effects 
in  order  to  keep  from  starving. 

Among  the  waiters  upon  the  table  at  which  the  old  couple 
sat,  was  a  fine-looking  young  officer  from  Australia.  As  he 
helped  them  to  food  the  old  man  whispered  to  his  wife,  "My, 
ain't  he  like  our  Ned." 

The  officer  overheard  them.  Presently  he  came  again  to 
help  them  to  some  more  food,  when  the  old  man  spoke  aloud 
to  him : 

"My,  but  you  are  like  our  Ned !" 

"Indeed,  am  I?"  said  the  officer. 

"Yes,  you  are." 

"Well,  what  is  your  name  and  where  is  your  Ne'd?" 

"Oh,  he  went  to  Australia  over  thirty  years  ago,  and  we 
have  not  heard  from  him  in  over  twenty-one  years." 

It  was  now  the  young  officer's  turn  to  talk,  and  the  tears 
were  running  down  his  manly  face  as  he  said: 


156  THE   PASTOR   HI-S   OWN   EVANGELIST 

"Well,  my  name  is  Ned,  and  if  you  are  Edward  B — ,  I  am 
your  Ned's  son.  My  father  died  twenty-one  years  ago,  but 
I  came  to  England  to  find  you,  and  had  given  up  in  despair. 
Where  are  you  going  when  dinner  is  over?" 

"To  the  poorhouse,"  said  the  old  man. 

"Oh,  no,  you  are  not,"  said  the  young  officer.  "You  are 
going  with  me  to  my  hotel,  and  you  sail  with  me  on  Saturday 
next  for  my  home  in  Australia.  Come,  grandmother,  give  me 
your  arm,"  and  he  took  them  to  his  hotel. 

There  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  all  that  vast  audience  as  the 
reverend  canon  told  of  another  father,  our  heavenly  Father, 
who  sent  his  Son  "to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,"  to  tell  them 
of  a  home  in  his  Father's  house  "where  they  hunger  no  more, 
neither  thirst  any  more,  nor  the  sun  lights  upon  them,  or  any 
heat;"  of  the  King  of  kings  who  has  prepared  a  great  feast, 
and  has  bidden  all  mankind,  and  his  Son  bids  everyone  come, 
for  all  things  are  ready. — The  Congregationalist. 
Self-Centered  Faith. 

A  Methodist  missionary  in  Ceylon  one  day  received  a  call 
from  an  aged  Buddhist.  He  was  ninety-six  years  old,  and 
very  decrepit  and  almost  blind.  Like  others  of  his  religion 
he  looked  for  a  reincarnation  in  another  body,  after  he  died, 
according  to  his  merits;  and  this  is  his  list  of  merits  as  he 
told  it  to  the  missionary,  "I  have  climbed  Adam's  peak  twenty- 
six  times;  I  have  visited  the  Temple  of  the  Tooth  seven  times; 
I  have  caused  several  Buddhist  books  to  be  copied  and  given 
to  the  priests;  and  I  have  never  killed  an  animal,  except  a  few 
fish  that  I  caught.  So  you  see  I  have  plenty  of  merit,  and 
I  shall  be  born  well  in  my  next  life."  This  old  man  had  not 
done  good  to  any  human  being,  and  his  faith  appeared  to  be 
mostly  faith  in  himself.     Ceremonial  religion  is  centered  upon 

self. 

The  Cross  of  Christ. 

A  speaker  described  a  scene  in  Paris  in  which  a  number 
of  men,  when  a  cathedral  was  dedicated  on  a  hill,  attempted 
to  blot  out  the  illumination  of  the  cross  on  the  spire  by  rais- 
ing large  clouds  of  smoke  with  chemicals.  "Instead  of  blotting 
it  out,"  said  the  lecturer,  "the  cross  stood  out  in  greater 
magnificence  and  splendor." 


THE   LAMB   OF   GOD  157 

Never  does  the  cross  of  Christ  fail  men  in  their  need;  but 
"His  cross,  like  a  far-seen  beacon,  stands 

In  the  midst  of  a  world  of  sin ; 
And  stretched  out  are  his  bleeding  hands 

To  gather  the  wanderers  in." 

Our  Substitute. 

A  story  is  told  that,  during  our  late  sad  war,  a  number  of 
Southerners  were  arrested  by  a  general  of  the  Union  ^army, 
commanding  a  district  in  one  of  the  border  states,  who  tried 
them  by  court  martial,  under  the  general  charge  of  killing 
Union  soldiers  by  shooting  them  from  the  bushes  as  they 
passed  in  small  detachments  through  the  country.  They  were 
all  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  After  the  sentence, 
the  general  allowed  them  to  draw  lots,  and  selected  a  few  in 
this  way  for  execution.  Those  selected  by  the  fatal  lot  were  to 
be  shot  the  following  morning.  Tried,  condemned,  and  wait- 
ing the  execution  of  penalty,  their  condition  was  a  sad  one. 
Among  the  number  thus  waiting  in  despair  was  a  middle-aged 
man,  a  man  of  family,  who  was  in  deep  distress  at  the  fate 
that  awaited  him.  During  the  evening  a  young  man,  a  neigh- 
bor of  the  condemned,  and  one  who  had  himself  been  of  the 
number  arrested,  but  had  escaped  the  fatal  lot,  came  in  and 
made  the  astonishing  proposal  to  this  man  that  he  would  take 
his  place  and  die  in  his  stead.  He  said,  'T  have  no  family  to 
mourn  my  loss.  I  trust  I  am  prepared  to  die;  and  I  am 
willing,  for  the  sake  of  your  family,  to  die  for  you.  The 
general  says  he  will  consent  to  the  change,  and  accept  my 
death  in  place  of  yours  as  satisfactory  to  the  law."  The 
generous  ofifer  was  accepted  by  the  surprised  and  overcome 
man,  and  the  substitute  remained  under  the  guard  until  the 
morning  came.  With  the  morning,  the  young  man  was  led 
out  upon  the  parade  ground  with  his  fellow-prisoners.  A  com- 
pany of  soldiers,  with  loaded  guns,  faced  them,  and  at  the 
command  "Fire,"  he  fell,  dying  voluntarily  for  another. — Whipple. 
A  Sacrifice  For  Us. 

A  prisoner  escaped  from  a  French  prison.  He  managed  to 
conceal  himself,  though  the  hue  and  cry  were  up  against  him. 
Lying  in  a  ditch  he  saw  a  fire  break  out  in  a  village,  and  heard 


158  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

a  woman  cry  to  save  her  child  in  the  upper  story.  But  no  one 
responded.  The  prisoner's  humanity  made  him  forget  his 
personal  danger.  He  dashed  out,  made  his  way  through  the 
fire,  and  with  scalded  face  and  burning  clothes  presented  the 
rescued  child'  to  the  agonized  mother.  And  then  he  was 
arrested  and  returned  to  prison. — Norton. 

"Draw  All  Men." 
The  noted  English  preacher,  Rev.  G.  Campbell  Morgan,  has 
related  an  experience  of  one  of  his  evangelistic  services  in 
London.  A  hardened  criminal  came  forward  to  the  altar 
seeking  salvation.  Mr.  Morgan  knelt  beside  him  and  pointed 
him  to  Jesus  as  the  Lamb  of  God  who  could  cleanse  him  from 
all  his  sins.  And  he  who  had  been  a  great  sinner  believed 
and  was  converted.  Then  Mr.  Morgan  saw  the  mayor  of  the 
city,  a  man  of  high  morals  and  greatly  respected,  kneeling 
at  the  same  altar,  and  to  him,  as  to  the  criminal,  he  pointed 
out  the  Lamb  of  God  who  alone  could  take  away  sins,  and  in 
humble  self-surrender  the  mayor,  too,  accepted  Jesus  as  his 
Savior.  A  short  time  before  this  the  mayor  had  sentenced 
the  criminal  to  imprisonment,  and  there  at  the  altar  the  two 
shook  hands  while  tears  of  joy  ran  down  their  cheeks.  For 
the  worst  of  sinners  and  for  the  best  of  moralists  there  is  the 
same  Savior.  In  none  other  is  there  salvation,  for  neither 
is  there  any  other  name  under  heaven,  wherein  we  must  be 
saved. — TarbeU's  Teacher's  Guide. 

"In  the  Cross  of  Christ  I  Glory." 
When  the  Crusaders  invaded  the  Holy  Land,  they  found 
that  the  mountains  round  Jerusalem  and  the  long  slopes  of 
Moriah  were  bright  with  the  vivid  blossoms  of  the  crimson 
anemone.  This  fragile  wind-flower  they  named,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  their  high  romanticism,  "the  blood-drops  of  the  Re- 
deemer's passion."  Such  are  the  red  flowers  of  which  Sense 
writes.  The  garden  enclosed,  over  which  the  trees  of  the 
Lord  diffuse  their  penetrating  aroma,  gleams  with  the  red 
memorials  of  the  Redeemer's  dying  love.  The  strenuous, 
yet  reposeful,  virtues  of  the  gracious  soul  are  quickened  by 
the  blood  of  the  great  sacrince.  Sanctiflcation  begins  at  the 
cross. 


THE   LAMB    OF   GOD  159 

The  Blood  of  the  Cross. 
The  blood  of  the  cross  is  the  reconciliation  of  man  with 
God,  the  restoration  to  harmony  of  a  world  disordered  by  sin; 
it  is  the  bringing  into  human  life  of  that  divine  peace  which  V  1^ 
passes  all  understanding.  The  triumphant  energy  of  the  cross 
has  overwhelmed  the  powers  of  evil ;  the  adversary  is  crushed 
beneath  the  victorious  heel  of  the  Conqueror. 

"Laid  on  Him." 
When  Abraham  Lincoln  was  reviewing  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  in  April,  1863,  at  Falmouth,  Va.,  an  observer  said  to 
a  comrade,  "Did  you  ever  see  such  a  look  on  any  man's  face? 
He  is  bearing  the  burdens  of  the  nation.  It  is  an  awful  load. 
It  is  killing  him."  But  our  divine  Captain  was  bearing  the 
load  of  the  whole  world's  sin.  Do  you  wonder  that  he  is 
described  as  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief? 

The  Mystery  of  the   Cross. 

The  cross  is  the  mystery  of  eternity,  the  enigma  of  time ;  the 
angels  cannot  understand  it,  we  are  unable  to  comprehend 
all  the  wonders  of  its  love  and  pity,  but  our  hearts  are  glad 
whilst  they  gaze  upon  it;  they  see  beyond  the  pain  and  the 
sorrow  and  the  darkness,  they  behold  great  lights,  opening 
heavens,  expanding  and  assured  liberties,  and  they  are  glad 
with  great  joy. 

"The  Wondrous  Cross." 
Matthew   Arnold   on   his   last   Sabbath    attended   the    Sefton 
Park  Presbyterian  church,  Liverpool.     It  was  sacrament  morn- 
ing; the  sermon  was  on  the  "Shadow  of  the  Cross,"  and  the 
closing  hymn  was : 

When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross 
On  which  the  Prince  of  glory  died. 
At  the  home  of  his  brother-in-law,  after  service,  a  servant 
heard  him  repeating  to  himself,  on  the  stairs,  the  first  lines  of 
that  hymn.  At  luncheon  he  spoke  about  the  hymn  and  said 
he  thought  it  the  finest  in  the  English  language.  When  he 
rose  from  the  table  he  went  out,  and  in  ten  minutes  he  was 
dead — dead,  with  his  mind  dwelHng  on  the  cross  of  Christ — a 
finale  hardly  anticipated  by  readers  of  his  books. — Kelly. 


160  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST  ^. 

The  Sin  Bearer. 

On  one  occasion,  about  two  years  ago,  I  was  sent  for  to  see 
a  lady — a  stranger — who  was  dying  in  Brighton.  I  found  her 
to  be  a  person  of  means  and  education,  but  quite  ignorant  of 
the  salient  facts  of  the  Christian  faith.  Her  religious  views 
had  been  formed  almost  entirely  by  the  influence  of  certain 
Oriental  cults.  To  her  Jesus  was  simply  a  great  moral  teach- 
er, standing  in  line  with  other  religions  masters.  Of  Christian- 
ity as  the  religion  of  redemption  she  had  no  knowledge.  Her 
life-story  had  been  a  sad  one,  stained  deeply  by  both  sorrow 
and  sin.  "Oh,"  she  sighed,  "that  it  were  possible  for  some 
great,  strong  friend  to  take  my  conscience  as  though  it  were 
his  own,  that  I  might  have  a  little  peace !"  I  learned  more 
from  that  sentence  concerning  the  mystery  of  redemption  than 
up  to  that  moment  I  had  ever  thought  of.  Here  was  a  soul 
who  knew  and  stated  the  need  of  just  such  a  salvation  as  we 
are  bidden  to  proclaim.  She  asked,  without  knowing  that  there 
was  an  answer,  for  the  Savior  who  was  made  sin  for  us,  who 
could  take  man's  conscience  as  though  it  were  his  own,  and 
leave  in  its  place  his  peace.  The  sense  of  guilt  had  awakened 
with  power  in  this  poor  dying  woman.  To  have  told  her,  in 
what  was  almost  the  last  moment  of  her  life,  that  the  Most 
High  could  forgive  her  sins,  would  have  carried  no  comfort 
to  her  heart.  The  only  possible  relief  for  her  was  to  hear  of 
him  on  whom  the  Lord  had  laid  the  iniquity  of  us  all. — The  Con- 
gregationalist. 

"The  Lamb  Slain." 

Jesus   could  have   swept  his   enemies   from   the  face   of  the 

earth  with  a  word.     But  he  walked  straight  into  the  jaws  of 

death  himself  that  he  might  taste  death  for  every  man — a  victory 

that  was  for  all  mankind  and  for  all  time  of  right  over  wrong, 

,  of  holiness  over  sin,  of  love  over  hate,  of  light  over  darkness. 

This  Loving  Savior. 
A  ministerial  friend  of  mine  said  that  on  one  occasion  he 
was  preaching  in  a  certain  church  in  the  afternoon,  and  after 
the  service  a  gentleman  asked  him  if  he  would  not  come  to  his 
house  and  take  supper.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  as 
they  were  about  to  enter  the  house  the  host  said,  "You  are 


THE   LAMB   OF  GOD  161 

the  first  person  who  has  been  invited  to  break  bread  in  my 
home  for  seventeen  years.  I  have  an  imbecile  son,  and  I 
treat  him  just  as  though  he  had  his  reason,  and  I  have  thought 
that  it  would  not  be  pleasant  for  visitors  in  the  home,  and  so 
I  have  not  invited  any.  But  something  that  you  said  in  your 
sermon  today  made  me  think  that  you  would  not  mind  it,  and 
so  I  asked  you  to  come."  My  friend  expressed  his  sympathy 
with  the  father  and  said  he  was  very  glad  indeed  to  accept  the 
invitation.  When  it  came  time  for  the  meal,  the  full-grown 
son  was  led  in  like  a  little  child,  and  in  all  things  during  the 
meal  the  father  and  others  ministered  to  him  as  though  he 
were  still  an  infant.  When  the  supper  was  finished  and  they 
had  gone  into  another  room,  the  guest  asked  the  father  whether 
his  son  had  always  been  in  that  condition.  And  the  father  said, 
"No,  indeed.  When  he  was  a  child  he  was  one  of  the  brightest 
boys  that  ever  lived,  but  when  he  was  about  six  years  old  he 
was  afflicted  with  a  terrible  disease ;  and  although  his  body 
recovered  from  it,  his  mind  was  gone.  And  now  for  seventeen 
years  he  has  been  just  as  you  have  seen  him  tonight."  The 
minister  said,  "W^hat  a  mercy  it  would  have  been  if,  when  he 
was  so  sick,  God  had  taken  his  life,  instead  of  allowing  him  to 
grow  up  like  this !"  And  then  the  father  burst  into  tears,  and 
he  said,  "You  could  not  have  said  anything  else  that  would 
hurt  me  like  that ;  I  know  he  is  an  imbecile,  but  he  is  my  son — 
he  is  my  son." 

'"Often  I  feel  my  sinful  heart 

Prone  from  my  Savior  to  depart; 

But  though  I  have  him  oft  forgot. 

His  loving-kindness  changes  not." — Mills. 

"Wounded  For   Our  Transgressions." 

A  young  man  was  asked  when  he  first  trusted  in  Christ  and 
was  saved.  His  answer  was,  "When  the  bee  stung  mother." 
When  he  was  a  little  boy  he  was  playing  before  the  door,  while 
his  mother  was  working  inside.  Suddenly  a  bee  came  buzzing 
at  the  door,  and  he  ran  in  to  his  mother,  followed  by  the  bee. 
She  hid  him  behind  her.  The  bee  fastened  on  her  bare  arm 
and  stung  her  severely.  She  turned  round,  took  her  little  boy, 
and  showed  him  her  arm.    There  was  the  place  where  she  was 


162  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

stung,  and  there  was  the  bee  slowly  crawling  up  her  arm. 
"You  need  not  fear  the  bee  now,  Willie,"  she  said,  "for  it 
has  no  sting.  It  cannot  hurt  you.  Its  sting  is  here."  She 
showed  her  little  boy  a  black  speck  sticking  in  the  wound. 
And  then  she  took  him  on  her  knee,  and  told  him  how  the 
sinner,  pursued  by  God's  broken  law,  by  death  whose  sting  is 
sin,  could  find  no  shelter  save  behind  the  cross  of  Christ ; 
while  in  that  spotless  One  who  hung  there  was  plunged  the 
fatal  sting;  to  him  was  meted  out  the  wrath,  the  stripes,  the 
bruises,  the  wounds,  which  were  the  sinner's  due,  so  that  now 
all  the  sinner  has  to  do  is  to  look,  and  death  is  harmless, 
because  all  its  sting  has  been  exhausted  in  Christ,  all  its  dark 
waters  dried  up  in  him,  and  nothing  now  remains  but  to  bow 
in  thankfulness  and  praise  to  the  One  who  is  mighty  to  save. 
"Christ  also  suffered  sins  once,  the  righteous  for  the  unright- 
eous, that  he  might  bring  us  to  God." — The  Ram's  Horn. 

Suffering  To  Save. 

The  duty  of  boilermakers  on  war  ships  is  of  the  most  dan- 
gerous nature.  In  action,  between  actions,  and  out  of  action, 
the  repairs  they  are  called  upon  to  effect  are  sufficient  to  send 
a  chill  of  fear  to  the  hearts  of  most  men. 

They  will  creep  right  inside  a  boiler  or  furnace  which  has 
but  a  few  moments  before  been  full  of  boiling  water  or  live 
coals,  and  while  the  ship's  big  guns  are  making  the  vessel 
tremble,  these  men  will  go  down  amid  hissing  steam  and  ter- 
rible heat  to  repair  what  if  unrepaired  might  send  all  to  the 
bottom. 

At  the  bombardment  of  San  Juan,  the  gunboat  Castine  car- 
ried three  boilermakers.  The  Castine  went  into  action  under 
full  steam,  her  triple  screws  revolving  at  the  fullest  speed  her 
2,199  horsepower  could  make  them  spin,  and  her  battery  of 
eight-inch  guns  started  her  quivering  in  fierce  battle.  The  fur- 
naces were  being  fed  by  forced  draft  to  greater  heat,  the  boil- 
ing water  to  higher  production  of  steam  and  the  engines  to 
increasing  revolutions;  suddenly,  far  down  in  the  furnace  hold, 
there  arose  a  fierce  hissing  noise  right  inside  of  one  of  the  fur- 
naces, and  made  those  who  heard  it  and  knew  what  it 
meant  tremble  as  no  gun  or  shot  or  shell  could  make  them 


THE  LAMB   OF  GOD  '163 

tremble.  A  socket  bolt  in  the  back  connection  at  the  extreme 
back  of  the  furnace  had  become  loose.  A  leak  had  sprung, 
steam  was  pouring  in  upon  the  fire,  threatening  to  cause  a  ter- 
ritic  explosion,  and  the  annihilation  of  all.  The  faces  of  the 
men  below  blanched  beneath  the  grime  that  covered  them  and 
for  a  moment  it  seemed  that  no  one  knew  what  to  do.  The 
first  man  whose  senses  returned  to  him  was  boilermaker 
Huntley.  His  name  does  not  appear  in  the  navy  list,  and  even 
his  first  name  was  unknown  to  his  comrades.  They  only  knew 
him  as  boilermaker  Huntley,  of  Norfolk,  Va.  But  this  is 
enough,  and  his  deed  is  sufficient  to  find  him  a  niche  in  the 
annals  of  fame  wherever  the  story  of  the  United  States  and  her 
navy  is  told.  Without  trepidation,  and  with  stern  set  jaws 
and  fierce,  devoted  determination  on  every  line  of  his  face  and 
form,  Huntley  cried  out,  "Turn  off  the  forced  draft,  bank  up 
the  fire!  Quick!"  "Good  heavens,  what  are  you  going  to  do," 
exclaimed  his  companions.  "It  is  certain  death  for  you."  "Per- 
haps for  me,  but  surely  for  all  unless  you  do  as  I  say.  Turn 
ofif  the  draft,  bank  the  fire,  bring  me  a  plank."  The  orders  were 
carried  out,  the  plank  was  brought  and  before  they  could  stop 
him  this  hero  had  flung  the  plank  into  the  furnace  on  top  of 
the  black,  banked  coal,  had  himself  crawled  over  the  raging 
mass,  far  back  to  where  the  steam  was  rushing  like  a  hissing 
devil  from  the  loosened  socket.  For  three  minutes  he  stayed 
inside  that  fearful  place,  and  then  the  work  was  done — the 
ship  was  saved — and  his  comrades  drew  him  out  of  the  door, 
the  forced  draft  went  to  its  work  again,  and  in  an  instant  the 
furnace  was  once  more  aflame.  But  what  of  poor  Huntley? 
Scorched,  scalded,  insensible,  nearly  dead,  he  lay  oh  the  iron 
floor  of  the  furnace  room ;  around  him  stood  his  mates,  dous- 
ing him  with  water  and  using  every  means  for  his  resuscitation. 
He  did  not  die,  and  when  once  more  he  opened  his  eyes  and 
was  carefully  lifted  into  daylight  there  arose  such  cheers  from 
the  throats  of  those  dirty,  grimy  mates  as  never  greeted  the 
taking  of  a  city  or  the  sinking  of  a  ship. 

The  story  is  briefly  chronicled  in  the  log  of  the  Castine,  and 
Huntley  simply  claims  that  he  "did  his  duty."  But  while  this 
country   remains   a   nation,   so   long  as   our  flag   remains   the 


164  THE    PASTOR   HIS    OWN    EVANGELIST 

symbol  of  purity,  bravery  and  patriotism  the  name  of  this 
man  Huntley,  of  Norfolk,  Va.,  who  was  only  a  boilermaker, 
should  never  be  forgotten. — Chapman. 

A  Sacrifice  of  Love. 

The  best  gift  that  we  can  give  to  God  is  the  gift  of  ourselves 
to  serve  others.  A  young  school  teacher  in  Ohio  gave  herself 
some  years  ago  to  foreign  missionary  work.  She  was  sent  to 
India  by  a  mission  board.  After  a  few  years'  service  she 
became  sick,  and  none  of  the  doctors  could  help  her.  She 
returned  home.  By  and  by  she  thought  that  she  had  some  symp- 
toms that  she  had  noticed  in  lepers  in  India,  and  she  won- 
dered if  she  had  leprosy.  She  consulted  a  specialist  and  was 
told  that  she  had  this  dread  disease.  She  did  not  say  any- 
thing to  her  friends,  but  prepared  to  return  to  India.  She  knew 
that  there  were  many  lepers  there  that  she  could  help,  so  she 
went  back  to  them,  to  love  them,  to  serve  them,  to  live  among 
them,  although  she  knew  that  she  was  dying  herself.  She 
gave  herself  to  God.  Can  we  give  a  better  gift? — The  Christian 
Endeavor  World. 

A  Savior  Needed. 

Dietrich,  a  German  artist,  has  painted  a  great  picture  of 
Christ  saying  "Come  unto  me." 

I  have  been  impressed  with  the  great  variety  of  characters 
which  he  groups  around  the  Master.  The  sick,  the  crippled, 
the  sad,  the  weary,  the  discouraged,  the  young,  the  old,  the 
rich,  the  poor,  the  despised  and  the  favored  were  all  there.  And 
as  you  look  at  each  longing,  anxious  face  3'ou  feel  that  there 
is  not  much  difference  in  the  group  after  all.  They  are  all 
alike  in  one  thing,  they  all  need  the  same  Savior.  They  are 
alike  in  this,  that  they  may  all  have  him,  and  all  upon  the 
same  condition.  They  are  all  alike  in  this,  that  whatever  be 
their  condition  they  will  be  miserable  without  him. 

Jesus  wants  us  to  come,  with  our  sins  and  troubles,  and  he 
will  give  us  rest.  If  anything  plagues  us  with  pain,  we  have 
rest  when  the  pain  cause  is  taken  away. 

A  missionary  teaching  the  Indians  said,  when  he  instructed 
them  concerning  God,  how  he  had  made  the  sun,  stars  and 
earth,  they  said,  "How  glad  we  are  to  know  this.     Our  fathers 


THE  LAMB  OF  GOD  16S 

and  ourselves  often  wondered  who  made  these,  and  trouble 
was  ours  because  we  could  find  no  answer,"  But  when  he  told 
them  how  Jesus  revealed  God  as  Father,  and  by  his  life  and 
death  showed  his  love,  they  said,  "Now,  indeed,  you  make  us 
glad,  for  now  we  know  who  God  is,  what  he  is  like,  and  we  can 
trust  and  love  hira."  We  not  only  need  to  know  God  as  Al- 
mighty Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  but  also  as  the  Father, 
sending  the  Son  and  saving  us,  to  make  us  glad  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  him. — Augsburg  Teacher. 

He  Only  Can  Save. 
There  is  a  story  told  of  a  poor  blind  man  who  stood  on  a 
bridge  over  a  canal  in  the  City  Road,  London,  reading  aloud 
from  an  embossed  Bible  to  any  who  would  listen.     A  gentle- 
man on  his  way  home  stopped  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd 
to  see  what  attracted  so  many  loungers.     Just  then  the  poor 
man,  who  was  reading  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  lost\^'    V 
his  place,   and,  while   trying  to   find   it   with   his   finger,   kept     "  ' 
repeating  the  last  clause  he  had  read.   "None  other  name — none  j 

other  name — none  other  name."  Some  smiled  at  the  blind 
man's  embarrassment,  but  this  gentleman  went  away  very 
thoughtful.  He  was  at  that  very  moment  inquiring  the  way 
of  life,  and  in  the  mood  to  be  influenced  by  a  word  spoken  in 
season.  The  chance  word  haunted  him,  and  before  morning  he 
had  surrendered  to  its  power.  "I  see  it  all !"  he  cried.  "I  have 
been  trying  to  be  saved  by  my  own  works,  my  repentance,  my 
prayers,  my  reformation.  I  see  my  mistake.  It  is  Jesus  who 
alone  can  save.    To  him  will  I  look." 

Let  Him  Save  You. 

An  aged,  weary  woman,  carrying  a  heavy  basket,  got  into 
the  train  with  me  the  other  day,  and  when  she  was  seated  she 
still  kept  the  heavy  burden  upon  her  arm.  "Lay  your  burden 
down,  mum,"  said  the  kindly  voice  of  a  workingman.  "Lay 
your  burden  down,  mum ;  the  train  will  carry  both  it  and  you." 
God  will  carry  us  and  our  burdens,  too. — Central  Christian  Advo- 
cate. 


SERVICE  SEVEN— Friday  Evening 
Repentance 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  VII 

Repent:  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.— 
Ad  ait.  4:17. 

Wash  you,  make  you  clean ;     *     *     *     cease  to  do 

evil. — Isa.   1:16. 
And  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind. — Eph. 

4-23- 
Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  meet  for  repentance. — 

Matt.  3:8. 

For  I  am  not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners 

to  repentance. — Matt.  p:i3. 
Turn  ye  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  will 

turn  unto  you. — Zech.  1:3. 

And  they  went  out,  and  preached  that  men  should 
repent. — Mark  6:12. 

The  Lord  is  nigh  them  that  are  of  a  broken  heart. — 
Ps.  34:18. 

If  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins  that  he  hath 
committed,  and  keep  all  my  statutes,  *  *  *  he 
shall  surely  live. — Esek.  18:21. 

Blessed  are  they  that  mourn;  for  they  shall  be  com- 
forted.— Matt.  5:4. 

The  Prodigal  Son. — Luke  15:11-32. 

Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. — Luke 

I3-3- 
Now  I  rejoice,  not  that  ye  were  made  sorry,  but  that 

ye  sorrowed  to  repentance. — 2  Cor.  /.p. 
And  I  gave  her  space  to  repent    *     *     *     and  she 

repented  not. — Rev.  2:21. 
For   godly   sorrow   worketh   repentance   to   salvation 

not  to  be  repented  of;  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world 

worketh  death. — 2  Cor.  7:10. 
As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in 

the  death  of  the  wicked;  but  that  the  wicked  turn 

from  his  way  and  live, — Esek,  33  \ii. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Repent;  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand. — Matt,  4:17. 
Repentance  is  a  change  of  mind : 

1.  Concerning  my  sin. 

2.  Concerning  God's  son. 

Wash  you,  make  you  clean;  *     *  *  cease  to  do  evil. — Isa.  1 :16. 

Man's   part   in  conversion : 

1.  Willing  the  putting  away  of  evil. 

2.  Willing  the  acceptance  of  the  good  seen  in  Christ. 

3.  God  meets  the  penitent  and  gives  the  will  efficacy. 

And  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind. — Eph.  4:23. 

1.  Sin  hates  what  God  loves  and  loves  what  God  hates. 

2.  Penitence  loves  what  God  loves  and  hates  what  God 

hates. 

3.  The  Spirit  is  ever  ready  to  bring  about  this  renewal 

of   the   spirit   of   the    mind    in    answer   to   earnest 
desire. 

Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  meet  for  repentance. — Matt.   3:8. 

1.  The  test  of  the  value  of  a  good  emotion  is  actions 

and  not  merely  avowals. 

2.  True    repentance    will    find    expression    in    a    trans- 

formed life. 
3      Let   your   life    in   the   present    witness    to    the    gen- 
uineness of  your  sorrow  for  the  past. 

For  I  am  not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repent- 
ance.—Matt.  9:13. 

1.  Christ  the  Savior  of  the  lost. 

2.  The    penitent's    consciousness    of    sin    a    ground    of 

encouragement  rather  than  despair. 

3.  Self-righteous  complacency  excludes  from  salvation. 

— Pharisees. 

Turn  ye  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  will  turn 
unto  you." — Zech.  1 :3. 

1.  Man's  part  in  salvation;  repentance,  faith. 

2.  God's  part;  conviction,  regeneration. 

3.  "Work  out  your  own  salvation     *     *     for  it  is  God 

which  worked  in  you." 


170  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

And  they  went  out,  and  preached  that  men  should  repent.*^ 

Mark  6:12. 

1.  The  initial   need — repentance. 

2.  The  initial  theme — repentance. 

3.  The  initial  act — repentance. 

•  4.     The  Christian's  daily  need — repentance. 

The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  them  that  are  of  a  broken  heart- 
Psalms  34:18. 

1.  Not  sin,  but  hardened  indifference  to  sin,  drives  God 

from  the  life. 

2.  Penitence  always  wins  instant  pardon. 

3.  Sin   realized   is  a  heart-breaking  experience,   leading 

up  to  the  joy  of  renewed  fellowship. 

If  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins  that  he  hath  com- 
mitted, and  keep  all  my  statutes,  *  *  *  he  shall  surely  liv«. 
— Ezek.  18:21. 

1.  The  condition;  repentance,  conversion. 

2.  The    measure    of    the    thoroughness    of    repentance; 

"all  his  sins     *     *     all  my  statutes." 

3.  The  inducement;  eternal  life. 

4.  The  certainty  of  the  promise;  "surely." 

Blessed  are  they  that  mourn:  for  they  shall  be  comforted.— 

Matt.  5:4. 

1.  Penitence  the  stepping  stone  to  pardon. 

2.  Pardon  brings  peace;  "with  God,"  "of  God." 

3.  Power;  to  live  the  renewed  life. 

4.  Hope  for  the  heavenly  hereafter. 

5.  Therefore  penitence  is  a  beatitude. 

The  Prodigal  Son.— Luke  15:11-32. 

1.  Sin  banishes  from  the  Father's  house. 

2.  Sin  herds  men  with  swine. 

3.  Sin's    wretchedness   reminds   of   the    home   forsaken. 

4.  Impels  to  return. 

5.  The  waiting  Father's  gracious  greeting. 

Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. — Luke  13:3. 

1.  Sin's  sequel  is  destruction. 

2.  Repentance  is  the  only  way  of  escape. 

3.  Repentance  a  life  and  death  matter. 


THE  LAMB   OF  GOD  171 

Now  I  rejoice,  not  that  ye  were  made  sorry,  but  that  ye  sor- 
rowed to  repentance. — 2  Cor.  7 :9. 

1.  Joy  that  brings  sorrow:    Godless  mirth. 

2.  Sorrow  that  leads   to  joy:    Penitence,   the   gateway 

to  salvation. 

3.  Our  interest   in  others'  welfare   should   fill   us  with 

gladness  when  they  grieve  for  sin. 

And  I  gave  her  space  to  repent  *  *  *  and  she  repented 
not.— Rev.  2:21. 

1.  The  day  of  grace. 

2.  Unimproved. 

3.  A  cause  of  everlasting  regret. 

For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be 
repented  of;  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death. — 
2  Cor.  7:10. 

1.  Worldly    sorrow:    (1)    Repining;    (2)    Disappointed 

ambition ;   (3)   Remorse. 

2.  Godly  sorrow :     Repentance. 

3.  The  contrast  in  results:    (1)    Despair;   (2)    Penitent 

faith  and  hope. 

As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  the  wicked;  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and 
live. — Ezek.  33:11. 

1.  God  not  a  vindictive  despot. 

2.  Nor  a  cruel  executioner. 

3.  But    a    loving    Father   yearning    for   his    wandering 

children. 


SUGGESTIONS 

Cottage  or  neighborhood  prayer  meetings  held  at  a  number 
of  central  points  will  deepen  interest  and  concentrate  prayer. 
It  would  be  all  the  better  if  these  were  begun  a  month  before 
the  special  services. 

In  the  ordinary  course  of  events  in  evangelistic  meetings, 
the  pastor  and  other  workers  will  find  numerous  opportunities 
for  personal  work  opening  up  by  this  time.  Reports  will  have 
been  received  from  those  who  promised — and  were  assigned — 
to  speak  to  others. 

If  convenient,  plan  for  a  Saturday  evening  conference  with 
office-bearers  according  to  the  announcement  of  Monday  even- 
ing. Use  this  and  other  opportunities  for  instructing  amateurs 
in  the  wisest  methods  of  personal  approach. 

The  following  from  a  religious  weekly,  read  at  the  Saturday 
evening  conference,  will  help  your  personal  workers: 

"If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus  and 
in  thy  heart  shalt  believe  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved."  With  all  the  light  that  has  been 
shed  upon  the  question  of  accepting  Christ,  by  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  help  given  by  those  who  are  actively  engaged  in 
soul  saving,  there  are  still  multitudes  who  don't  seem  to 
understand  that  God's  word  means  just  what  it  says. 

Not  long  since  we  found  a  Christian  trying  to  show  an 
inquirer  the  way  to  Christ,  and  it  was  really  painful  to  see  how 
this  Christian  worker  was  stumbling  the  inquirer,  making  it 
very  hard  indeed.  Instead  of  taking  the  word  of  God  and 
showing  it  to  the  inquirer,  pointing  out  some  such  passages  as 
the  one  just  quoted,  Romans  10:9,  the  worker  is  so  apt  to  try 
to  explain  the  way  of  life  in  his  own  words.  It  is  sure  then  to 
be  only  man's  wisdom,  and  the  one  who  is  seeking  Christ 
gropes  about  blindly,  wanting  to  be  a  Christian,  yet  not  know^ 
ing  how.    Again  and  again  have  we  found  this  to  be  the  case. 


REPENTANCE.  173 

Those  who  were  attempting  to  lead  souls   into  the  kingdom 
were  only  making  the  darkness  thicker. 

Recently  in  a  meeting  where  there  were  a  number  of  souls 
to  be  dealt  with,  we  found  a  young  man  after  the  services  were 
over,  with  a  troubled  look  on  his  face,  and  when  the  question 
was  asked  him,  "Well,  have  you  found  Christ?"  he  said,  "I 
don't  know,  I  don't  think  I  have;  it  is  a  great  mystery."  Upon 
being  asked  why  it  was  a  great  mystery  and  how,  he  said, 
"Well,  I  cannot  be  a  Christian  until  I  have  feelings  or  some 
of  the  experiences  that  these  others  have  had."  When  we 
asked  what  experiences,  he  said,  "Well,  a  lady  told  me  how 
she  got  Christ  and  I  have  not  any  of  those  signs  at  all." 

Instead  of  others'  experiences  being  given  him,  this  young 
man  should  have  been  helped  to  look  to  Christ's  promises, 
usmg  his  words  pointing  to  such  clear,  plain  passages  as  this, 
"He  that  believeth  in  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life."  (John 
3:36.)  Or,  "For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  son ;  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  per- 
ish but  have  everlasting  life."  (John  3 :16.)  "Behold  I  stand 
at  the  door  and  knock ;  if  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the 
door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with 
me."  (Rev.  3:20.)  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that 
heareth  my  word  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  ever- 
lasting life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation ;  but  is  passed 
from  death  unto  life."     (John  5:24.) 

When  there  are  such  plain,  clear  explanations  of  what  it 
means  to  come  to  Christ  and  exactly  how  to  come,  why  should 
we  try  to  take  the  matter  into  our  own  hands  and  try  to  lead 
souls  to  Christ  on  our  own  responsibility?  God's  word  is  suf- 
ficient. Very  few  words  of  ours  are  needed  and  those  princi- 
pally to  point  the  inquiring  soul  to  the  Word  of  God. 

Give  more  and  more  attention  to  preparation  for  the  after 
talks.  Use  them  to  bring  matters  to  a  head.  Saturate  them 
with  the  gospel. 

Emphasize  the  invitations  to  those  interested,  to  give  expres- 
sion to  their  interest  by  whatsoever  methods  are  considered 
best  under  local  conditions. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

In  the  words  of  the  child's  hymn: 

"Repentance  is  to  leave 

The  sins  we  loved  before, 
And  show  that  we  in  earnest  grieve 

By  doing  them  no  more." 

True  repentance  will  endeavor,  with  the  full  strength  of  the 
emancipated  will,  to  renounce  evil  in  thought,  in  word,  or  in 
act,  and  to  perform  all  righteousness.  The  penitent  soul 
belongs  to  Christ,  repudiates  self-lordship,  and  yields,  submits, 
surrenders,  dedicates  itself  to  the  service  of  the  Redeemer;  it 
places  itself,  to  use  the  words  of  George  Whitefield,  "blind- 
folded and  without  reserve"  in  the  strong  and  gentle  hands  of 
infinite  love, — Life  m  His  Name. 

Repentance,  when  it  is  done,  is  such  a  beautiful  thing  that 
Jesus  himself  said,  "There  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth."  Have  you  repented  along  that  line?  There 
are  some  of  you  who  do  not  understand  how  it  is  you  have  no 
peace  and  no  joy  in  your  profession.  I  know,  just  as  well  as 
if  I  lived  with  you,  I  know  if  you  have  no  joy  and  no  peace 
in  your  professed  faith  it  is  because  you  have  never  turned  to 
God  wholly.  Some  of  you  say,  "I  want  peace."  Never  mind 
peace;  do  as  you  are  told,  and  peace  will  come.  There  are 
some  people  more  concerned  about  nice  feelings,  happy  feel- 
ings, ecstasies  and  joys,  and  all  the  rest  of  it,  than  they  are 
about  putting  God  in  his  place.  You  put  God  in  his  'place, 
and  you  will  have  peace;  you  honor  God,  and  you  will  have 
peace. — As  Jesus  Passed  By. 

Many  a  wanderer  from  his  father's  house  has  found  a  short 
way  to  God  by  looking  up.  That  is  the  only  way  that  any 
man  ever  finds  God.  No  matter  who  we  are  or  where  we  go, 
God  is  not  far  from  any  one,  because  he  follows  us  on  high 
and  waits  to  be  gracious  to  us.  If  we  are  trying  to  help  some- 
body, he  is  also  trying  to  help  that  one,  and  is  following  him 


REPENTANCE.  175 

and  us.  Circumstances  may  be  hostile,  but  they  cannot  decide 
the  case.  Temptations  may  abound,  but  God  is  near.  Evil 
things  may  encompass  us,  but  the  blue  is  always  over  us — 
bright  and  pure  and  measureless.  Enemies  may  entice  us,  but 
he  that  keepeth  his  own  neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps. — Selected. 

You  have  had  a  revelation  made  to  you  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  your  Savior.  In  your  helpless  and  hopeless  condition, 
as  a  sinner  before  God,  you  have  fled  for  refuge  to  Christ, 
believing  in  him,  trusting  him  and  rejoicing  in  him  as  your  all- 
sufficient  friend  and  helper.  You  have  had  a  saving  apprehen- 
sion of  God's  mercy  in  Christ  toward  you. 

But  along  with  this  beholding  of  the  Lord  Jesus  there  has 
also  been  revealed  to  you  the  true  nature  of  sin,  and  you  have 
been  conscious  of  a  certain  feeling  in  relation  to  it,  as  also  of 
a  certain  attitude,  purpose  and  effort.  To  all  of  these  varied 
aspects  of  your  soul's  relation  to  sin  the  term  repentance  has 
been  applied.  It  is  a  saving  and  gracious  efifect  wrought  in 
you  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  your  emotions,  estimates  and 
efforts,  as  to  sin,  are  changed. 

You  must  link  it  in  closest  association  with  your  faith. 
Wherever  the  one  is  the  other  must  of  necessity  already  exist 
or  inevitably  follow. — God's  Way  Out. 

What  a  wonderful  effect  pardon  has  on  a  man!  Oh,  the 
wonderful  effect  it  has  on  a  man  to  know  he  is  pardoned,  to 
be  sure  he  is  forgiven !  He  begins  to  tremble  all  over.  "They 
shall  fear  and  tremble  for  all  the  goodness  I  will  make  to  pass 
before  them."  He  is  afraid  he  will  go  to  sin  again  after  such 
love  and  after  such  mercy.  He  is  melted  down.  He  does  not 
know  what  to  make  of  it.  For  a  time  he  can  hardly  believe  it 
is  true.  I  know  I  felt  at  first  like  Peter  when  the  angel  brought 
him  out  of  prison  and  the  great  iron  gate  was  opened.  He 
knew  not  what  was  done  unto  him,  and  "thought  he  saw  a 
vision."  He  could  not  believe  it  was  true.  You  are  amazed,  you 
are  overwhelmed,  you  are  faint-hearted  with  fear  at  the  intense 
delight  of  pardon,  being  half  afraid  it  can  not  be  so.  That 
such  a  wretch  as  you  can  really  be  passed  by  and  your 
iniquities  blotted  out  for  ever  and  evei  —-oh,  it  does  make  you 
fear,  with  a  holy,  reverential  fear! 


176  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Now,  are  there  any  of  God's  people  here  tonight  who  are 
afraid  they  do  not  fear  God  enough?  If  you  want  to  revive 
your  fear  of  God,  and  have  it  deepened,  beh'eve  in  your  pardon. 
Believe  that  you  are  forgiven,  prize  the  forgiveness,  cling  to 
the  cross.  Know  that  your  sins  are  blotted  out,  and  all  that 
sweet  fear  of  God,  by  which  is  meant  the  whole  of  piety,  will 
abound  in  your  soul.  Some  think  it  is  a  good  way  of  deepen- 
ing their  faith  to  begin  to  question  whether  they  are  Christians. — 
Selected. 

Sin  "blotted  out."  The  ancient  stylus,  used  to  write  on  tab- 
lets of  wax,  had  a  broad,  flat  blade  at  the  opposite  end.  When 
it  was  used  to  erase  what  had  been  written,  it  was  very  easy 
to  reverse  the  instrument  and  with  the  flat  part  press  back  the 
wax  into  the  little  furrows  made  by  the  stylus,  and  so  effect- 
ually blot  out  the  record,  making  the  tablet  as  smooth  as 
though  it  had  never  been  used. 

Again,  "blotted  out  as  a  thick  cloud"  may  refer  to  the  imme- 
diate dispersion  of  mists  about  mountains,  when  the  sun  rises 
in  splendor.  Sometimes  they  disappear  instantaneously  under 
the  combined  influence  of  heat  and  wind,  so  that  no  inter- 
vening vapor  remains. 

"Cast  behind  the  back"  is  put  out  of  sight.  "Cast  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea"  is  an  expression  used  because  the  ancients 
held  the  abyss  of  ocean  to  be  unfathomable,  and  what  was  so 
cast  in  would  be  irrecoverable. 

"Removed — as  far  as  the  east  from  the  west." — (Ps.  103.) 
Notice  the  east  and  west  represent  opposite  directions,  and  not 
simply  distances,  however  great.  As  stars  are  so  far  removed 
as  to  be  lost  to  sight — as  from  the  surface  of  Sirius  the  entire 
orbit  of  the  solar  system  would  shrink  to  invisible  insignifi- 
cance— so  God  puts  sin  so  far  away  that  even  the  remem- 
brance of  it  is  annihilated.  (Hebrews  8:12;  10,  etc.)  Compare 
Hebrews  11,  the  Westminster  Abbey  of  Old  Testament  saints, 
where  among  all  the  inscriptions  no  record  or  remembrance  of 
sins  appears. — A.  T.  Pierson,  D.  D. 

We  must  either  turn  to  God,  receive  his  gracious  forgive- 
ness, and  render  him  the  holy  and  reverential  fear  of  our  hearts 
and  the  obedience  of  our  lives;  or  else  meet  him  with  our  sins 


REPENTANCE  177 

and,  under  his  outraged  law,  take  the  just  consequences  of 
transgression . — Selected. 

What  is  repentance?  Listen.  It  is  not  promising  to  be  bet- 
ter. There  are  plenty  of  people  who  have  been  promising  to  be 
better  ever  since  they  can  remember,  from  boyhood  or  girl- 
hood. When  God  has  laid  his  hand  upon  them,  as  he  does  in 
a  thousand  ways,  they  are  ready  to  promise,  and  do  promise. 
Where  are  you,  you  who  have  been  making  promises  till  your 
hair  is  gray,  and  have  broken  every  one  of  them,  and  angels 
beholding  your  shattered  promises  have  shuddered  to  the  tips  of 
their  wings?  You  are  further  from  God  than  ever  you  were 
in  your  life,  with  all  your  promises.  Your  psalm-singing  and 
your  hymn-singing,  and  your  church-going,  and  your  offerings, 
and  all  the  rest  of  your  religious  paraphernalia,  are  so  much 
mockery  because  you  have  not  walked  the  straight  and  blessed 
path  of  obedience  and  trust. 

It  is  not  enough  to  promise.  It  means  more  than  that.  If 
it  is  not  conviction,  if  it  is  not  sorrow,  if  it  is  not  the  desire  to 
be  better  and  the  promise  to  be  better,  what  is  it?  What  is 
repentance?  Is  it  crying?  No.  Is  it  excitement?  No.  Is  it 
emotion?  Is  it  kneeling  down  and  groaning?  No.  Is  it  going 
and  hearing  preachers?     No. 

What  is  it?  Listen.  Jesus  Christ  tells  you  in  that  beautiful 
picture  in  the  fifteenth  of  Luke.  It  is  a  wonderful  chapter. 
There  are  three  cases  in  that  chapter — the  silver,  the  sheep,  and 
the  son.  The  sheep  was  lost  out  of  the  fold,  the  silver  was  lost 
in  the  house.  The  sheep  was  lost  without  any  intention  of 
being  lost,  but  it  was  lost.  The  silver  was  lost  in  the  house 
through  somebody's  carelessness,  and  it  may  be  there  is  some- 
body lost  in  your  house,  in  your  pew  in  the  church,  through 
somebody's  carelessness.  God  help  you  to  find  out  who  that 
somebody  is !  The  son  was  lost,  and  it  was  his  own  fault.  He 
was  a  prodigal  before  he  left  home.  He  was  a  rebel  before  he 
got  a  penny  of  his  fortune.  He  was  as  bad  in  heart  and  in 
mind  before  he  received  a  cent  of  the  money  as  when  he  had 
spent  it  all.  He  was  guilty  the  moment  he  said  to  himself,  "I 
will  demand  the  portion  of  goods  that  falleth  to  me."  When 
the  sheep  went  astray  a  man  went  after  it.     When  the  silver 


178  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

was  lost  a  woman  went  after  it.  When  the  son  went  astray 
nobody  went  after  him.  How  is  that?  Remember  who  told 
the  story.  Nobody  went  for  him.  How  is  that?  Because  he 
was  a  man,  because  he  was  a  moral  agent,  because  he  was 
accountable  to  God  for  his  own  act.  Why  did  not  the  father 
gather  his  servants  with  the  elder  brother,  why  did  he  not 
gather  his  neighbors  together  and  say,  "Look  here,  I  have  lost 
my  boy,  let  us  go  and  find  him  and  bring  him  back  in  spite  of 
himself?"  Why  did  he  not?  Because  if  they  had  brought  him 
back  again  he  would  have  been  a  prodigal  still,  he  would  have 
been  a  rebel  inside  the  house  as  well  as  out  of  it,  for  no  man 
comes  till  he  returns;  and  heaven  and  the  Bible,  Christ  and 
Calvary,  the  Holy  Ghost  and  eternity  stand  absolutely  defeat- 
ed before  the  citadel  of  the  human  will.  Do  not  forget  it. 
Listen.  The  prodigal  went  astray,  took  every  step  from  the 
homestead  of  his  own  deliberate  choice,  step  by  step  away  up 
into  the  far  country,  and  he  had  to  come  to  himself,  he  had 
to  come  back  every  inch  of  the  way,  and  he  did  not  send  a  let- 
ter home  to  his  father  and  say,  "If  you  will  send  the  old  char- 
iot I  will  come  home,"  and  he  did  not  ask  anybody  to  give  him 
a  lift.  He  had  to  walk  back  every  inch  his  own  self,  step  by  step 
with  bleeding  feet  and  aching  head,  and  broken  heart.  He  had 
to  do  it.  "But,"  you  say,  "the  father  ran  to  meet  him,  did  he 
not?"  Yes,  he  did,  and  he  will  run  to  meet  you  when  you 
come. — Gipsy  Smith. 

To  you,  amid  your  troubled  thoughts  and  emotions  because 
of  your  sins  and  your  sense  of  condemnation  on  their  account, 
there  was  revealed  the  Lamb  of  God  taking  away  sins,  "bear- 
ing them  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree."  Not  only  did  you  see 
and  believe  him  to  be  a  sin-bearer  in  general  and  for  others, 
but  you  were  led  by  the  Spirit  to  behold  him  as  bearing  your 
sins  and  "blotting  out  the  handwriting  of  ordinances  that  was 
against  you,  which  was  contrary  to  you,  and  took  it  out  of  the 
way,  nailing  it  to  his  cross."  In  this  faith  you  exclaimed,  "My 
Lord  and  my  God."  You  were  led  to  rejoice  in  his  salvation 
and  gladdened  by  the  blessed  rest  and  peace  coming  into  your 
soul  after  the  antecedent  fears.  You  knew  and  felt  that  "his 
banner  over  you  was  love."    And  what  effect  did  all  this  have 


REE?ENTANCE  179 

upon  your  vision  and  feeling  and  purpose  and  endeavor  in 
regard  to  sin?  Did  not  Gethsamane  and  Calvary, —  in  their 
awful  revelation  of  what  your  Savior  endured  for  you — did  they 
not  reveal  sin  as  a  thing  hateful  and  to  be  hated?  And  in  the 
light  of  the  cross  and  your  new  found  liberty  from  the  fear  and 
the  bondage  which  had  oppressed  you,  was  there  not  aroused 
in  your  soul  a  feeling  of  personal  antagonism  to  sin,  as  that 
which  your  regenerated  nature  instinctively  felt  to  be,  always 
and  everywhere,  your  implacable  enemy?  Because  of  sin  you 
endured  much  and  your  Lord  endured  more.  Because  of  what 
you  saw  in  him  and  out  of  a  grateful  recognition  of  what  he 
did  for  you,  your  soul  went  out  toward  him  in  love.  And,  in 
view  of  all,  you  became,  like  him,  a  lover  of  righteousness 
and  a  hater  of  iniquity,  and  he  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil 
of  gladness." — Campbell. 

But  abandonment  of  sin  alone  is  not  sufficient.  This  is  but 
one-half  of  repentance.  We  must  not  only  repent  and  turn  to 
God,  but  we  must  follow  this  with  works  meet  for  repentance. 
We  must  be  active  in  duty.  W^e  must  awake  to  righteousness. 
We  must  not  only  cease  to  do  evil,  but  must  learn  to  do  well. 
We  must  go  forth  to  plant  and  to  water  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord;  and  run  and  toil  to  gather  in  his  ripening  harvests.  We 
must  not  only  do  good  ourselves,  but  encourage  good  in  oth- 
ers. Having  conquered  our  evil  habits,  we  must  add  to  our 
faith  all  the  Christian  virtues,  and  the  Christian  graces.  These 
things  must  not  only  be  in  us,  but  must  abound.  In  a  word, 
true  repentance  will  produce  conversion,  and  conversion  will 
lead  us  to  an  outward,  visible  profession,  and  covenant  with 
God,  before  man. — Selected. 

The  best  definition  of  repentance  in  the  Word  of  God  is 
found  in  2  Cor.  7:10,  where  Paul  says,  "For  godly  sorrow 
worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented  of."  It  is 
not  that  flippant  regret  of  a  criminal  at  being  found  out,  nor 
that  hypocritical  sorrow  whose  tears  are  an  intended  appeal 
for  clemency,  nor  the  sorrow  of  the  fear  of  punishment.  It  is 
a  godly  sorrow,  thoroughly  sincere,  the  result  of  yielding  to  con- 
viction ;  the  effect  upon  the  soul  of  an  adequate  recognition  of 
the  sinfulness  of  sin,  and  the  loathsomeness  of  our  own  individ- 


180  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ual  sin.  It  is  a  deep,  sincere  regret  at  having  committed  wrong. 
It  is  an  acknowledgement  of  guilt,  a  confession  of  blameworthi- 
ness. It  is  sorrow  for  sin  in  itself.  If  this  sorrow  be  wrought 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  it  will  be  in  the  right  motive.  It  will 
more  than  likely  break  open  the  fountain  of  tears.  Why  should 
we  not  weep  over  our  sins?  Is  it  in  any  sense  an  unworthy 
emotionalism?  Our  Savior  wept  and  groaned,  and  sweat  as 
it  were  great  drops  of  blood,  for  our  sins!  Should  we  refuse 
to  weep  over  our  own  sins?  Should  we  not  rather  be  ashamed 
not  to  weep?  He  shed  his  blood,  and  are  we  loath  to  shed  our 
tears?  One  thing  is  sure;  so  long  as  we  are  not  full  of  sor- 
row for  sin,  we  are  not  in  any  condition  to  receive  salvation, 
nor  have  we  any  promise.  "The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken 
spirit;  a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not 
despise."      (Psa.  51:17.) — Spreng. 

Repentance  is  the  response  of  the  enlightened,  redeemed  man 
to  the  call  of  God,  the  "I  will"  of  the  soul.  It  is  putting  your 
hand  on  your  heart  and  getting  hold  of  what  has  been  your 
curse,  the  thing  that  has  chained  you.  It  is  getting  hold  of  the 
thing  that  has  made  hell  of  earth  for  you,  the  sin  of  your 
heart — for  I  have  discovered  that  there  may  be  a  dozen  sins  in 
a  man's  life,  but  there  are  not  a  dozen  that  predominate;  there 
is  one  overmastering,  predominating,  all-prevailing  sin  that 
enslaves  and  damns,  and  if  that  sin  goes  everything  goes.  It  is 
putting  your  hand  in  your  heart  and  plucking  that  out 
and  saying  to  God,  "There  it  is,  and  I  will  die  before 
I  will  sin  again."  Have  you  repented  in  that  fashion? 
Don't  talk  about  church  membership,  don't  insult  God  by  talk- 
ing about  the  communion  until  you  have  done  this;  this  is  the 
first  thing  and  the  others  will  not  be  expected  until  you  have 
done  this. 

"Repent  ye,"  make  a  full  surrender  to  God. — Northwestern 
Christian  Advocate. 

No  age  has  ever  been  altogether  without  the  heavenly  vision. 
Job  saw  and  heard  more  clearly  than  many  others,  perhaps, 
because  he  had  come  into  the  Divine  Presence  through  a  great 
fight  of  afiflictions.  When  the  vision  burst  upon  him,  he  said, 
"T  have  heard  of  thee  bv  the  hearing  of  the  ear;  but  now  mine 


REPENTANCE  181 

eye  seeth  thee.  Wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust 
and  ashes."  As  long  as  he  compared  himself  with  other  men 
he  could  maintain  that  he  was  righteous,  but  God  had  placed 
before  him  a  higher  standard. 

If  by  some  magical  power  a  beast  could  become  a  man,  he 
would  at  once  find  himself  a  sinner,  for  his  beast  heart  would 
not  be  suited  to  human  relations.  Not  only  would  his  habits 
need  reforming,  but  new  ideals,  new  motives,  and  even  new 
instincts  would  be  necessary.  If  a  peasant  could  become  a 
prince,  he  would  need  a  similar  change  of  heart.  If  a  man 
hears  the  call  of  Christ,  and,  following  him,  passes  out  of  the 
world  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  feels  as  he  never  felt  before 
that  he  is  a  sinner.  He  feels  the  need  of  a  mentor  that  may 
teach  him  the  rules  of  the  new  social  plane  on  which  he  essays 
to  live.  He  cannot  keep  in  right  paths  unless  he  hears  the 
voice,  "This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it."  He  needs  more  than  a 
guide  and  mentor.     He  needs  a  thorough  transformation. 

Somewhere  in  the  far-distant  future  the  past  may  be  forgot- 
ten. The  "old"  man  may  die.  He  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
will  say,  "Behold,  I  make  all  things  new."  But  until  that  time, 
at  least,  the  man  who  has  been  made  a  partaker  of  the  powers 
of  that  new  world  must  look  into  his  former  life  and  self  as 
into  the  depths  of  a  pit,  and  his  song  will  be,  "Unto  him  that 
hath  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood." 
— Selected. 

A  religion  that  does  not  turn  up  sin  by  the  roots  is  spuri- 
ous. A  religion  that  does  not  make  a  new  creature  is  false. 
A  religion  that  does  not  get  hold  of  a  man  to  his  very  depths 
and  make  him  right  with  God  is  blasphemy.  If  you  are  will- 
ing to  forsake  your  sin  and  make  the  surrender  now,  you  too 
shall  know  that  joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth." — Selected. 

Repentence  is  love  recoiling  from  evil  in  the  presence  of 
Christ.  Rev.  J.  H.  Jowett  says,  "What  is  love?  It  is  abso- 
lutely indefinable.  Take  down  the  dictionary;  that  does  not 
go  beneath  the  skin.  If  you  put  your  analytical  finger  on 
love,  where  would  you  begin?  Young  people  in  love,  where 
would  you  begin?    The  biggest  thing  in  love,  I  tell  you,  is 


182  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

purity.  There  can  be  no  love  without  it.  Love  at  the  heart 
of  God  is  incorruptible  holiness." 

Here  is  the  difference  between  sentiment  and  sentimental- 
ism.  Sentimentalism  deals  with  love  that  has  no  holiness 
in  it.  Sentiment  is  pure.  Sentiment  goes  above  the  snow  line. 
Sentimentalism  stays  at  the  base.  "The  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
clean."  Sentiment  is  not  afraid  of  God.  Love  is  holiness  on 
the  march  to  the  unholy  to  make  it  pure. 

Because  love  is  holy,  love  is  sensitive.  Only  the  pure 
are  sensitive.  Every  step  into  impurity  is  a  step  into  insensi- 
tiveness.  "The  wages  of  sin"  is  benumbment.  It  is  the  clean 
that  is  quick,  the  impure  that  is  obtuse.  Were  I  superlatively 
holy,  I  should  feel  everything.  See  if  there  be  any  sorrow  like 
like  unto  my  sorrow."  "I  have  trodden  the  winepress  alone." 
Because  love  is  holy,  love  is  sensitive,  and  because  love  is  sen- 
sitive, love  is  also  redemptive.  You  can  never  measure  your 
holiness  by  your  recoil  from  sin.  Holiness  is  aggressive.  It 
operates  upon  the  sin  which  it  stands  aside  from.  It  reacts 
upon  it  in  order  to  make  it  pure. 

Because  love  is  holy,  sensitive,  redemptive,  it  is  also  sacri- 
ficial. "Who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me."  He  came 
to  my  house  of  bondage  to  set  the  bondslave  free. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

How  One  Sinner  Repented. 

The  story  is  told  of  a  dissipated  young  man  who  one  day 
entered  a  street  car  in  one  of  our  large  cities  and  sat  down  all 
unnoticed.  He  was  so  cast  down  and  in  despair  that  he  did 
not  heed  or  care  who  else  was  in  the  car.  He  had  lost  one  job 
after  another  because  of  his  dissipated  habits,  and  now  the 
extremity  had  come.  He  mumbled  to  himself,  "If  I  can  not  get 
work,  I  can  die;  there's  an  end  to  all  things.  When  one  ceases 
to  be  useful,  he  ought  to  be  out  of  the  way."  He  then  looked 
back  to  the  time  when  he  had  come  to  the  city,  full  of  hope, 
ambition,  and  promises  to  his  mother  to  be  a  pure,  honest  boy; 
but,  alas!  it  was  the  old,  old  story,  A  sparkle  came  to  his 
eyes  as  he  thought  of  the  fortune  he  hoped  to  lay  soon  at  her 
feet.  Then,  as  he  realized  his  condition,  a  great  wave  of  agony, 
shame,  and  distress  swept  over  the  once  manly  countenance. 
Now  he  found  himself  alone — the  man  beside  him  had  just 
left.  With  downcast  eyes  he  noticed  a  slip  of  paper.  Slowly 
and  thoughtlessly  he  picked  it  up  and  was  about  to  throw  it 
down  when  he  thought  the  handwriting  looked  familiar.  As 
he  glanced  at  the  script  the  words  attracted  his  attention;  he 
read  and  re-read  them  until  they  burned  themselves  into  his 
memory:  "I  thought  on  my  ways  and  turned  mj  feet  unto 
thy  testimonies."  He  was  aroused  to  a  sense  of  his  surround- 
ings as  the  car  stopped  and  he  saw  they  were  at  the  terminus 
of  the  line.  He  got  off  because  it  seemed  to  make  no  difference 
where  he  was.  So,  without  noticing  what  he  was  doing,  he 
crossed  the  street  and  sat  down  on  the  grass  in  the  shade,  with 
head  down,  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground,  and  as  if  seeing  them 
there,  again  repeated  the  words,  'T  thought  on  my  ways  and 
turned  my  feet."  He  was  coming  to  himself  as  many  another 
prodigal  has  done.  He  was  thinking.  He  did  not  know  he 
was  being  watched  by  a  lady  on  the  veranda  across  the  way, 
and  had  not  heard  her  daughter  singing;  but  now  the  words 
floated  out,  through  the  open  window: 


184  THE    PASTOR    HIS    OWN    EVANGELIST. 

"Other  refuge  have  I  none, 
Hangs  my  helpless  soul  on  thee. 
Leave,  ah!  leave  me  not  alone." 

"Alone,  yes,  alone,"  he  said  while  he  wept.  He  glanced  up 
as  a  little  child  ran  past  him,  then  turned  and  looked  at  him 
with  his  countenance  full  of  pity,  and  said,  "Have  oo  'ost  any- 
fing?" 

"Yes;  I've  lost  my  all,  my  manhood." 

The  lady  missed  the  little  child  and  called  him,  but  he  paid 
no  heed.  She  came  across  the  street  for  him.  As  she  neared 
them  the  little  boy  said  in  tones  of  sympathy: 

"Mamma,  he  'ost  somefing." 

"Can  I  help  you,  sir?"  she  asked  in  the  kindest,  sweetest 
tones  he  had  heard  since  he  left  home  and  mother.  And  her 
Christian  sympathy  and  kindly  testimony  of  the  willingness  of 
God  to  stretch  out  a  hand  to  those  who  are  in  trouble  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new  and  noble  life. — The  Fisherman  and  His 
Friends. 

When  He  Repented. 

An  old  pastor,  now  dead,  used  to  relate  the  following  inci- 
dent: 

"There  came  to  me  here  one  day  a  grand  looking  fellow.  I 
did  not  need  to  ask  whether  he  did  business  on  the  water,  for 
the  sea  breeze  had  kissed  his  brow  so  often  that  it  had  left  its 
mark  there.  I  said,  'Where  did  you  find  the  Lord?' 
"In  a  moment  he  answered,  'Latitude  25,  longitude  54.' 
"I  confess  that  rather  puzzled  me.  I  had  heard  of  people 
finding  Jesus  Christ  in  these  galleries  and  down  these  aisles, 
but  here  was  something  quite  different. 

"  'Latitude  25,  longitude  54!'  What  do  you  mean?" 
"He  said,  'I  was  sitting  on  deck,  and  out  of  a  bundle  of 
papers  before  me  I  pulled  one  of  Spurgeon's  sermons.  I  began 
to  read  it.  As  I  read  it  I  saw  the  truth,  and  I  received  Jesus 
into  my  heart.  I  jumped  off  the  coils  of  rope,  saved.  I  thought 
if  I  were  on  shore  I  would  know  where  I  was  saved,  and  why 
should  I  not  on  the  sea?  And  so  I  took  my  latitude  and  long- 
itude.' " 


REPENTANCE  185 

Stirring  the  Conscience. 
An  old,  white-haired  Brahmin  came  to  me  in  Calcutta,  after 
a  public  meeting  of  students,  and  said,  "Is  'stir  the  conscience' 
an  intelligible  use  of  English?"  I  assured  him  that  it  was.  He 
replied  "India's  conscience  has  been  dead  for  centuries,  at 
least  along  certain  lines.  The  Bible  will  stir  the  conscience  of 
India. — The  Century. 

A  Concrete  Case. 
"I  was  conducting  a  mission  in  Glasgow,  a  few  years  ago, 
that  lasted  sixteen  weeks,"  said  a  noted  evangelist.  "We  had 
a  Glasgow  Pentecost.  In  those  Scotch  churches  thousands  of 
people  came  to  Christ.  I  moved  just  from  church  to  church 
in  one  section  of  the  city  and  I  took  a  circuit  of  ten  churches — 
a  week  in  each.  I  noticed  for  six  or  seven  weeks  a  man,  a 
fine  specimen  of  a  Scotchman,  following  me  from  church 
to  church  night  after  night.  I  knew  he  was  concerned  and 
prayed  for  him.  I  felt,  somehow  or  other,  that  there  was 
a  link  between  that  man  and  myself  and  I  felt  that  he  under- 
stood it,  too.  One  night  I  stayed  in  that  old-fashioned  box 
pulpit  and  watched  the  congregation  leave  at  the  close,  and 
my  man  sat  down  below  in  the  pew  and  watched  me,  and 
presently  we  two  were  left  alone.  I  left  the  pulpit  and  went 
to  him  and  I  said,  'My  friend,  I  have  been  watching  you  for 
some  weeks.'  'Yes,  I  know,'  he  replied.  'Well,  you  are  con- 
cerned about  your  soul?'  'I  am,'  he  said.  'I  never  was  so 
moved  in  my  life  as  in  these  last  few  weeks.'  I  said,  'You 
know  what  you  have  to  do?'  'Yes,  I  do.'  I  was  urging  him 
to  make  the  surrender,  and  while  talking  with  him  discovered 
a  gentleman  near  us  listening.  He  came  forward  and  said, 
'Will  you  let  me  speak  to  this  brother?'  I  said  'Yes,'  and  he 
continued,  'I  have  heard  part  of  the  conversation  and  I  want 
to  read  to  you,  turning  to  my  friend  in  the  pew,  a  text,' 
and  he  read  John  3:16.  'Do  you  believe  that?'  he  asked.  'Yes; 
of  course  a  Scotchman  believes  that.  I  can  repeat  it  as  well 
as  you  can.'  The  newcomer  then  read  Romans  10:9,  'If  thou  shalt 
confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in 
thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt 
be  saved,'  and  asked  again,  'Do  you  believe  that?'    'Of  course 


186  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

I  believe  it.'  Next  he  read  from  John's  epistle,  'If  we  con- 
fess our  sins  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and 
to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness,'  and  asked,  'You 
believe  that,  too?'  'Yes,  I  believe  that.'  'Then  you  are  a 
Christian.'  My  friend  straightened  himself  up  and  looking 
at  the  man  with  the  Bible,  said,  'You  are  wrong,  my  friend.' 
'Well,  but  you  believe  Christ  died  for  you?'  'Yes.'  'You 
believe  he  rose  from  the  dead  for  your  justification?'  'Yes.' 
'You  believe  he  is  able  to  save  you?'  'Yes,  right  on  the  spot.' 
'Then  you  are  saved.'  'No,  I  am  not.'  'How  do  you  make  that 
out?'  'Well,  you  have  read  three  passages,  now  find  one  for 
me.'  'Where  is  it?'  'Isaiah  fifty-fifth  chapter  and  the  seventh 
verse.'  The  man  with  the  Bible  turned  to  the  passage  and 
read,  'Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man 
his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord.' 

"  'Now  stop,'  said  my  friend.  'I  am  the  wicked  man ;  I  am 
the  unrighteous  man,  and  I  have  to  forsake  the  sin  and  the 
wicked  thought,  and  I  have  to  come  back  from  my  own  way 
to  God's  way.  His  thought  is  so  high  and  mine  so  low. 
In  my  heart  is  a  great  sin,  and  I  am  hugging  it  and  am  not 
willing  to  give  it  up,  and  my  own  common  sense  tells  me  I 
cannot  be  saved  until.  I  surrender.'  That  is  the  best  sermon 
I  ever  heard  on  repentance  in  my  life.  A  religion  that  does 
not  turn  up  sin  by  the  roots  is  spurious.  A  religion  that  does 
not  make  a  new  creature  is  false.  A  religion  that  does  not  get 
hold  of  a  man  to  his  very  depths  and  make  him  right  with 
God  is  blasphemy.  If  you  are  willing  to  forsake  your  sin 
and  make  the  surrender  now,  you  too  shall  know  that  joy  shall 
be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.' " 

"Repent  Ye!" 

From  my  seminary  days  I  have  carried  Dr.  Hastings'  story 
of  Lyman  Beecher  and  the  sermon  on  repentance.  Driven 
from  his  work  by  physician's  orders,  the  senior  Beecher  had 
gone  to  the  seashore,  where  he  was  fishing  and  roughing  it. 
One  Sunday  morning  he  went  to  a  little  church  whose  young 
pastor  recognized  him  and  insisted  that  he  preach.  "Not  at 
all,"  was  the  answer,  "I  am  in  fishing  clothes,  I  have  no  ser- 
mon and  I  am  here  to  rest."     So  the  young  fellow  went  into 


REPENTANCE  18? 

the  pulpit  and,  as  Beecher  told  it,  "read  a  very  good  essay  on 
repentance,"  defined  it,  showed  how  necessary  it  is  and — sat 
down.  "Then,"  said  the  sturdy  theologian,  "I  went  up  into 
the  pulpit,  fishy  as  I  was,  and  put  the  cracker  on  that  sermon, 
told  the  people  it  meant  that  they  must  repent  or  they  would 
be  lost,  every  one  of  them,  and  dismissed  the  congregation." 
Turning  to  the  preacher,  he  said,  "Sir,  you  ought  to  be  hung! 
It  is  a  capital  crime  to  bring  people  into  the  presence  of  such 
a  truth  and  never  make  them  feel  it  as  their  personal  busi- 
ness." We  do  not  need  people  who  know  what  repentance 
is,  but  people  who  know  how  to  repent  and  who  have  done  it. 
The  sermon  must  shut  a  man  up  to  some  sort  of  decision, 
a  decision  of  mind  or  of  act.  It  must  make  appeal  to  his 
will.  A  man  once  said  to  me  about  Dr.  John  Hall,  that  he 
could  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  sovereign  election  of  God  so 
that  you  felt  like  going  out  at  once  and  getting  to  work. — - 
McAfee. 

The  Riches  of  Jewels, 

George  Macdonald  has  a  story  of  a  father  and  daughter, 
dwellers  in  an  old  Scotch  castle,  so  reduced  and  poor  that  they 
could  only  live  in  the  scantiest  way,  who,  all  the  time,  how- 
ever, were  really  rich,  because  in  a  secret  cupboard  were 
masses  of  flashing  jewels,  put  there  by  some  ancestor  of  an 
earlier  time.  If  they  had  known  how  rich  they  were!  And 
all  the  time  God's  utmost  gift  of  forgiveness,  strength,  love, 
power  for  noble  living,  are  at  men's  hands,  if  they  but  knew. — 
Wayland  Hoyt,  D.  D. 

A  Broken  Heart. 

A  French  prince  visiting  the  arsenal  at  Toulon  was  asked 
by  the  commandant  to  release  any  prisoner  he  desired  (a  cus- 
tom with  those  of  high  rank).  All  with  whom  he  conversed 
had  some  tale  of  grievance,  but  at  last  there  was  a  man  who 
said,  "Sir,  I  have  been  a  bad  man,  guilty  of  all,  more  than  I 
am  charged  with.  It's  a  mercy  I  have  not  been  broken  on 
the  wheel!"     "Here  is  the  man  to  release,"  said  the  prince. 

Won  By  His  Wounds. 
General  Gordon  was  once  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senate,   from   Georgia.     A   certain   member   of   the    legislature 


m  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

had  been  elected  on  purpose  to  vote  against  him.  He  stormed 
and  raved  against  his  old  commander  at  all  times  and  places; 
and  when  it  came  to  voting  he  marched  resolutely  up  the 
aisle  with  an  anti-Gordon  ballot  in  his  hand.  There,  on  the 
platform,  sat  the  old  general,  the  scars  of  battle  still  disfigur- 
ing a  face  which  had  once  been  handsome.  As  the  veteran 
approached  the  ballot  box  his  heart  began  to  fail  him  as  he 
caught  sight  of  Gordon.  His  frame  shook  with  emotion,  but 
he  tried  to  nerve  himself  for  the  ordeal.  Then,  suddenly 
turning  and  facing  the  caucus,  he  cried  out,  as  the  tears 
streamed  down  his  bronzed  cheeks,  "It's  no  use,  boys!  I 
can't  do  it!  Here  goes  my  vote  for  John  B.  Gordon.  It  was 
all  up  with  me,  boys,  when  I  saw  that  scar.  Forgive  me, 
General."  The  General's  scar,  in  the  old  soldier's  thought, 
was  his  highest  badge  of  honor. 

A  Famous  Penitent. 
Rom.  13:13,  14  was  the  passage  which  led  to  Augustine's 
repentance.  In  chapter  twelve  of  the  eighth  book  of  his  Con- 
fessions he  describes  himself  as  seated  under  a  fig  tree  in  the 
garden,  miserable  and  tearful,  when  the  voice  of  a  boy  or  girl 
was  heard  crying,  "Take  and  read,  take  and  read!"  Augus- 
tine interpreted  this  as  a  "divine  command  to  open  the  book" 
of  Paul's  epistles,  which  he  had  laid  down  not  far  away,  "and 
to  read  the  first  chapter  I  could  find.  I  seized  the  book, 
opened  it  and  read  in  silence  the  first  passage  on  which  my 
eyes  lighted.  It  was:  'Not  in  revelling  and  drunkenness, 
not  in  chambering  and  wantonness,  not  in  strife  and  envying. 
But  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not  provision 
for  the  flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof.'  No  further  would  I 
read,  nor  was  aught  else  needed.  At  once,  as  it  were,  at  the 
end  of  the  sentence,  my  heart  was  flooded  with  the  light  of 
peace,  and  all  the  shades  of  doubt  removed.  Then,  putting 
my  finger  in  the  place  or  some  other  mark,  I  shut  the  book 
and  told  Alypius  quietly  what  had  occurred.  Whereupon  he 
informed  me  of  what  had  happened  to  himself,  of  which  I 
was  ignorant;  and  he  did  so  as  follows:  Asking  to  see  what 
I  had  read,  he  went  past  my  passage,  which  I  showed  him, 


REPENTANCE  189 

to  the  following  words :     'Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith,  receive 
ye.'     This  he  applied  to  himself,  and  told  me  all." 

I  Cannot  Feel  Saved. 

Martin  Luther,  in  one  of  his  conflicts  with  the  devil,  was 
asked  by  the  arch-enemy  if  he  felt  his  sins  forgiven.  "No," 
said  the  great  reformer,  "I  don't  feel  that  they  are  forgiven, 
but  I  know  they  are,  because  God  says  so  in  his  Word." 
Paul  did  not  say,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  feel  saved,"  but  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou   shalt  be  saved." 

Ask  that  man  whose  debt  was  paid  by  his  brother,  "Do 
you  feel  that  your  debt  is  paid?"  "No,"  is  the  reply,  "I  don't 
feel  that  it  is  paid.  I  know  from  this  receipt  that  it  is  paid, 
and  I  feel  happy  because  I  know  it  is  paid." 

So  with  you,  dear  reader.  You  must  believe  in  God's  love 
to  you  as  revealed  at  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and  then  you 
will  feel  happy,  because  you  may  know  you  are  saved. 

A  dear  old  Christian,  on  hearing  persons  speaking  of  their 
feelings,  used  to  say,  "Feelings!  feelings!  Don't  bother  your- 
self about  your  feelings.  I  just  stick  to  the  old  truth  that 
Christ  died  for  rae  and  he  is  my  surety  right  on  to  eternity; 
and  I'll  stick  to  that  like  a  limpet  on  a  rock." 

A  Converted  Magnetic  Needle. 

Some  months  ago  I  found  that  the  needle  in  a  small  com- 
pass in  my  possession  was  inverted,  so  that  the  arrow  pointed 
to  the  south.  It  was  not  only  wrong,  but  radically  wrong. 
If  it  had  deviated  only  a  little  from  the  true  north,  I  should 
have  supposed  that  there  was  a  magnetic  storm  brewing,  or 
that  the  mechanism  of  the  compass  box  was  at  fault.  But  in 
whatever  position  I  placed  it,  it  would  turn  and  point  due 
south,  when  left  free  to  move  as  it  would. 

So,  first,  I  tied  the  needle,  so  that  it  could  not  point  any 
other  way  but  north.  Then  I  placed  it  pointing  to  the  north 
star,  and  left  it  for  a  week.  But  as  soon  as  it  was  free,  around 
it  moved  and  pointed  south.  If  such  a  compass  as  that  were 
carried  by  a  man  lost  in  the  mountains,  the  more  faithfully 
he  followed  his  guiding  compass  the  more  lost  he  would  be. 
If  it  belonged  to  a  sailor  at  sea,  the  more  faithfully  he  trusted 


190  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST  ^ 

his    needle    the    farther    from    his    destination    would    he    sail, 
or  the  more  sure  of  shipwreck  would  he  be. 

That  compass  was  perverted,  and  I  determined  to  convert 
it.  In  my  cabinet  is  a  mass  of  magnetic  iron,  known  as  lode- 
stone.  I  placed  the  compass  needle  on  the  stone  so  as  to  make 
it  point  north  with  the  arrow  of  the  needle.  I  left  it  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  magnetic  iron  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  when 
I  took  it  ofif  the  needle  was  converted,  and  now  it  points  of 
itself  faithfully  and  continuously  to  the  north  star.  Scientific- 
ally it  was  regenerated.  It  was  converted  and  remains  con- 
verted. 

This  perfectly  illustrates  the  condition  of  the  sinner  by 
nature,  and  what  he  becomes  by  grace. 

Fruits  Meet  For  Repentance. 

At  the  first  Sabbath  service  conducted  by  Gypsy  Smith 
in  Johannesburg,  a  Dutchman  was  so  affected  that  he  was 
thoroughly  broken  down.  Repenting  truly  of  his  sin,  he  went 
home  rejoicing  in  forgiveness.  On  rising  the  following  morn- 
ing, he  noticed  a  gold  watch  on  his  table.  "I  must  restore  that 
to  the  owner,"  said  he.  He  quickly  dressed,  and  hurried  to  the 
house  of  a  leading  Dutchman.  Immediately  he  saw  him,  he 
pulled  the  watch  out  of  his  pocket,  saying,  "Sir,  this  watch 
is  yours.  I  stole  it  from  you  eight  years  ago.  Yesterday  I 
heard  Gypsy  Smith  preach.  I  gave  myself  to  the  Lord.  No 
longer  can  I  keep  the  watch.  Forgive  me,  sir;  forgive  me; 
the  watch  is  yours.    I  cannot  keep  it  and  Christ." 

The  Cross  Seen  Through  Tears. 

It  is  only  in  the  presence  of  a  real  penitent,  pointing  to  his 
irrevocable  deed  of  sin,  that  the  gospel  can  be  understood. 

In  Scotland  a  young  man  who  wanted  to  be  a  Christian  was 
taken  out  by  his  father  and  pointed  to  a  toad  and  asked,  "Do 
you  feel  as  worthless  as  that  toad?"  "No."  "Then  you  are  not 
worthy  to  come.'  Not  until  he  could  say  *Yes'  to  that  question 
was  he  let  into  the  church.  Then  the  story  was  put  in  a  book 
to  show  how  a  man  must  feel  before  he  can  begin  a  Christian 
life.  Another  voice  interposed  a  question  whether  repentance 
did  not  include  "godly  sorrow."  "Godly  sorrow,"  said  Mr. 
Moody,  "is  the  sorrow  of  the  godly  over  their  sins.     A  sinner 


REPENTANCE  191 

can't  have  godly  sorrow.  I  had  no  great  sorrow  when  I  began 
a  Christian  life.  It  was  after  I  was  converted  that  my  con- 
science became  sensitive  and  tender.  Before  that  I  could  swear 
without  any  compunctions  of  conscience,  but  after  that  a  half- 
spoken  oath  caused  me  days  of  keenest  grief.  What  is  repent- 
ance? It  means  turning.  When  I  find  myself  driving  in  the 
wrong  direction  I  am  to  turn  about,  God  commands  men  to 
turn.  As  a  soldier  defines  repentance,  'Attention !  Halt ! 
Right  about  face !  March !'  They  are  not  to  wait  for  sorrow  or 
anything  else."  And  again  and  again  he  insisted,  in  response 
to  questions  from  those  who  could  not  easily  separate  repent- 
ance from  sorrow,  that  the  inquirer  is  not  to  seek  sorrow  but 
the  Savior. — Wilbur  F.  Crafts. 

There  Is  No  Difference. 

Like  death,  the  gospel  ignores  the  artificial  distinction  upon 
which  society  lays  so  much  stress.  Rev.  G.  Campbell  Morgan 
illustrates  this  "one  way  for  all"  truly  in  the  following  inci- 
dent: 

"You  get  a  man  to  the  Master,  and  I  do  not  care  if  he  is  up 
there  or  down  there,  where  he  is ;  the  man  that  is  cultured  and 
refined  and  scholarly,  or  the  man  who  is  ignorant  and  debased 
and  vile — get  him  to  Christ  and  he  will  fill  him. 

"Shall  I  tell  you  where  and  how  the  Lord  taught  me  that 
lesson  in  my  work?  I  am  bound  to  confess  there  was  a  time 
in  my  evangelistic  work  that  I  had  an  idea  that  Christ  could 
satisfy  the  man  that  was  down  there  in  the  slums,  but  I  was 
always  a  wee  bit  afraid  if  into  the  inquiry-room  there  came 
a  man  of  position  and  culture,  and  I  tell  you  the  Lord  gave 
me  one  of  the  most  wonderful  illustrations  of  the  absurdity  of 
my  fear  that  I  ever  had.  I  was  conducting  special  meetings  in  a 
town  in  the  Midlands  that  shall  be  nameless,  and  there  came 
into  the  inquiry  room  a  ragpicker,  a  great,  gaunt  old  man 
who  had  grown  hoary  in  the  service  of  sin  and  Satan,  an  awful 
character;  but  God  had  shown  him  his  heart  hunger  and  had 
revealed  the  Christ  to  him,  and  there  in  our  inquiry  room 
that  man  knelt,  and  I  knelt  by  him,  and  I  felt  at  home  as  I 
spoke  to  that  man  of  the  blood  that  cl-eanseth  from  all  sin. 
I  felt  it  was  just  what  he  wanted 


192  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

"And  presently  somebody  touched  me  on  the  shoulder  and 
said,  'Here,  won't  you  speak  to  this  man?'  And  I  looked 
around,  and  there,  kneeling  next  to  me  was  the  mayor  of 
the  city,  a  man  about  as  old  as  the  ragpicker,  but  a  man  who 
had  all  the  marks  of  culture  and  refinement,  a  man  of  position. 
There  he  was,  and  I  happened  to  know  that  six  weeks  before, 
the  mayor  had  sentenced  the  other  man  to  a  month's  hard 
labor.  He  had  got  out  a  fortnight  before,  and  there 
they  were,  side  by  side,  and  I  had  to  turn  from  the  ragpicker 
and  talk  to  the  mayor.  Presently  the  light  that  had  broken 
there  broke  here,  and  I  found  that  the  blood  that  was  needed 
there  was  sufficient  here.  He  filled  them  both.  And  the  most 
blessed  part  of  it  is,  that  when  this  man  got  up,  he  went  over 
to  that  man  and  said,  'Well,  we  didn't  meet  here  the  last  time.' 
It  was  the  ma3^or  who  had  said  it,  and  the  old  fellow  looked 
up  and  said,  'No,  we  will  never  meet  again  like  we  did  the  last 
time,  praise  God !'  What  a  scene  it  was !  It  is  in  my  memory 
to  this  day." 

Melted  by  Love. 

Dr.  George  F.  Pentecost  has  told  the  following  striking  inci- 
dent in  illustration  of  the  power  of  God's  love  to  win  the 
sinner:  A  young  man,  the  only  son  of  a  New  England  farmer 
in  moderate  circumstances,  fell  into  ways  of  dissipation  at 
college.  Contracting  gambling  debts  which  he  could  not  meet, 
he  was  arrested  for  forging  the  name  of  a  friend  of  his 
father.  Tried,  convicted,  sentenced,  he  escaped  from  the  dep- 
uty on  the  way  to  prison  and  hid  himself  in  the  far  west.  The 
father  toiled  on ;  secured  money  to  cover  the  forgery,  got  a 
pardon  from  the  governor,  and  giving  several  thousand 
dollars  to  a  private  detective — the  former  deputy — ^he  gave 
him  a  note  for  his  son  and  sent  him  west  to  find  him.  He  did 
find  him,  in  a  San  Francisco  gambling  hell. 

The  room  in  which  he  was  found  had  but  one  entrance, 
so  that  escape  could  only  be  made  by  the  door  through  which 
the  detective  entered.  No  sooner  had  he  come  into  the  room 
than  the  young  man  recognized  him,  and  naturally  supposing 
he  had  been  hunted  down  at  last,  and  that  the  officer  had 
come    to    arrest   him    and    carry   him    back    to   prison    and    to 


REPENTANCE  193 

increased  punishment,  he  determined,  if  possible,  to  escape;  and 
so,  rising  from  his  seat  at  the  gambling  table,  he  made  a  rush 
for  the  door,  striking  the  old  sheriff  a  fearful  blow  in  his 
passage,  which  felled  him  to  the  floor;  but  the  officer  suc- 
ceeded in  keeping  his  grip  upon  him  till  he  could  speak. 

"Stop,  John!  I  have  not  come  to  arrest  you,  but  to  put 
into  your  hands  the  governor's  pardon,  and  to  take  you  home 
to  your  father,  who  sent  me  to  find  you." 

This  communication,  which  he  at  once  accepted  as  true, 
arrested  further  attempts  to  escape.  Standing  still,  he  received 
the  parchment  document  on  which  the  pardon  was  engrossed. 
Having  read  it,  he  tore  the  document  up  and  flung  the  frag- 
ments on  the  floor,  remarking,  with  miserable  bitterness : 

"I  do  not  care  for  his  pardon — it  does  indeed  remit  the 
penalties  of  the  law,  and  so  far  sets  me  free;  but  it  cannot 
restore  my  ruined  character;  it  cannot  undo  the  misery  I  have 
brought  upon  my  father,  nor  restore  me  to  my  place  in 
society.  I  will  not  go  home  to  face  my  father's  just  anger, 
and  live  as  an  outcast  in  the  community  where  I  was  born." 

"But,  John,"  said  the  ex-sheriff,  "that  is  not  all;  I  have  a 
letter  from  your  father  which  he  bade  me  put  into  your  own 
hands;  here  it  is."    And  he  handed  him  the  letter. 

The  young  man  took  it  and  looked  long  upon  the  super- 
scription, and  then  broke  the  seal.  Out  of  it  fell  the  cancelled 
note,  with  the  bank  cashier's  receipt  for  payment  in  full,  and 
the  contents  of  the  letter  were  as  follows: 

"My  Dear  Boy. — The  miserable  debt  is  paid;  the  governor 
has  pardoned  you.  Your  old  father  has  never  ceased  to  love 
and  long  for  you,  and  freely  forgives  you.     Come  home  to  me." 

For  a  moraent  the  young  man  gazed  upon  the  letter  he  held 
in  his  hands;  and  then,  for  the  first  time  in  years,  his  heart 
was  touched.  His  lips  trembled,  tears  came  into  his  eyes, 
and,  falling  upon  a  chair,  he  sobbed  out  his  sorrow  and  repent- 
ance ;  then,  looking  up,  he  reached  out  his  hand  to  the  ex-sheriff 
and  said: 

"I  will  go  back  with  you.     Take  me  to  my  father!" 

Oh,  my  friends,  this  is  but  a  poor  parable  of  what  the 
gospel  is! 


SERVICE  EIGHT— Sunday  Morning 
Influence — Example 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  VIII 

Where  is  Abel,  thy  brother? — Gen.  4:g. 

Abstain  from  all  appearance  of  evil. — i  Thess.  5:22. 

Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth :  but  if  the  salt  have  lost 
his  savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted? — Matt.  5:13. 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world. — Matt.  3:14. 

Ensamples  to  all. — /  Thess.  i:y. 

For  from  you  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord  * 
*  *  so  that  we  need  not  to  speak  anything. — 
I  Thess.  1:8. 

Having  your  conversation  honest  among  the  Gen- 
tiles: that,  whereas  they  speak  against  you  as  evil 
doers,  they  may  by  your  good  works,  which  they 
shall  behold,  glorify  God  in  the  day  of  visitation. — 
I  Peter  2:12. 

That  ye  may  be  blameless  and  harmless. — Phil.  2:15. 

Among  whom  ye  shine  as  lights  in  the  world. — Phil. 
2:15- 

Holding  forth  the  word  of  life. — Phil.  2:16, 

Walk  as  children  of  light. — Eph.  5:8. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Where  is  Abel  thy  brother? — Gen.  4:9. 

1.  Self-interest  should  lead  you  to  know.     My  brother's 

safety  is  my  own  welfare. 

2.  Brotherly  feeling  should  lead  you  to  know.     "Bear 

ye    one    another's    burdens."      My    brother's    wel- 
fare is  my  business. 

3.  God    expects   you   to   know.      He   designates    me   as 

"my  brother's  keeper." 

Abstain  from  all  appearance  of  evil. — 1  Thess.  5 :22. 

1.  Abstain  from  evil — Contamination  involved. 

2.  From  the  appearance  of  evil, — Influence  at  stake. 

3.  Of  all  evil. — Minute  scrupulousness  for  others'  sakes. 

Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth:  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his  savor, 
wherewith  shall  it  be  salted? — Matt.  5:13. 

1.  A  preservative  influence. 

2.  A   purif3nng   influence. 

3.  An  appetizing  influence. 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world. — Matt.  5  :14. 

1.  The  light  by  which  men  see  God. 

2.  By  which  they  shun  the  rocks. 

3.  Reach  the  heavenly  haven  in  safety. 

Ensamples  to  all. — 1  Thess.  1 :7. 

1.  Multitudes    are    spiritually    illiterate;    they    do    not 

read  God's  printed  word. 

2.  But  they  read  Christians:  living  epistles  written  of 

God. 

3.  Be  careful  as  to  the  message  your  life  utters. 

For  from  you  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord     *     *     ♦ 
so  that  we  need  not  to  speak  anything. — 1  Thess.  1 :8. 

1.  Character's    resonance:    "What    you    are    speaks    so 

loud  I  cannot  hear  what  you  say." 

2.  Life  sermons  powerfully  supplement  pulpit  sermons. 

3.  What  sermon  is  vour  character  oreachine-? 


198  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

Having  your  conversation  honest  among  the  Gentiles;  that, 
whereas  they  speak  against  you  as  evil  doers,  they  may  by 
your  good  works  which  they  shall  behold,  glorify  God  in  the 
day  of  visitation. — 1  Peter  2:12. 

1.  Christians  are  sculptors  carving  Christ-like  lives. 

2.  Consistent  lives  refute  slander. 

3.  Witness  to  God's  power. — "Miracles  of  grace." 

That  ye  may  be  blameless  and  harmless. — Phil.  2:15. 

1.  A  high  ideal. 

2.  Attainable  through  divine  power. 

3.  The  lowest  we  dare  adopt. 

Among  whom  ye  shine  as  lights  in  the  world. — Phil.  2:15. 

1.  The  world  in  darkness. 

2.  Christians'  lights. 

3.  Keep  the  lamps  trimmed. 

Holding  forth  the  word  of  life.— Phil.  2:16. 

1.  Men  are  groping. 

2.  We  have  light. 

3.  Shed  it  forth. 

Walk  as  children  of  light. — Eph.  5:8. 

1.  Heathen — children  of  darkness. 

2.  Jews — of  dawn. 

3.  Christians — of  light. 

4.  Live  up  to  your  privileges  and  obligations. 


SUGGESTIONS 

Hold  an  officers'  and  teachers'  prayer  service  before  the 
Sunday  school  hour,  and  urge  teachers  to  press  Christ's  claims 
upon  their  scholars. 

Use  the  lesson  period,  or  some  other  time  during  the  school 
session,  for  an  earnest  talk  to  the  school,  seeking  to  lead  the 
scholars  to  decide  for  Christ. 

Hold  a  church  officers'  prayer  service  before  the  hour  of 
morning  worship. 

A  young  people's  rally  in  the  afternoon  can  be  made  pro- 
ductive of  good  results. 

Offer  to  meet  with  any  who  desire  to  talk  to  you  about  their 
own  interest,  or  with  reference  to  their  solicitude  for  friends, 
after  the  morning  service. 

At  this,  and  at  all  other  services,  use  hymns  of  a  warmly 
evangelical  character,  and  seek  to  help  your  choir  to  realize 
their  opportunity  for  singing  gospel  truths  into  men's  hearts. 
A  leader  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the  spirit  and  aim  of  the  ser- 
vices can  render  very  valuable  assistance. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

There  is  nothing"  in  the  universe  that  stands  alone  "—nothing 
solitary.  No  atom  of  matter,  no  drop  of  water,  no  vesicle  of 
air,  nor  ray  of  light,  exists  in  a  state  of  isolation.  Everything 
belongs  to  some  system  of  society  of  which  it  is  a  component 
and  necessary  part.  Just  so  it  is  in  the  moral  world.  No  man 
stands  alone,  nor  high  angel,  nor  child.  All  the  beings  "lessen- 
ing down  from  Infinite  Perfection  to  the  brink  of  dreary  noth- 
ing," belong  to  a  system  of  mutual  dependencies.  All  and 
each  constitute  and  enjoy  a  part  of  the  world's  sum  of  hap- 
piness. No  one  liveth  to  himself.  The  destiny  of  the  moral 
universe  is  affected  by  his  existence  and  influence.  The  most 
obscure  individual  exerts  an  influence  which  must  be  felt  in 
the  great  brotherhood  of  mankind.  Should  the  hand  say  to 
the  foot,  "I  have  no  need  of  thee,"  the  world  would  stand  still. 
No  human  being  can  come  into  this  world  without  increasing 
or  diminishing  the  sum  total  of  human  happiness,  not  only  of 
the  present  but  of  ever}--  subsequent  age  of  humanity.  No  one 
can  detach  himself  from  this  connection.  There  is  no  sequest- 
ered spot  in  the  universe ;  no  dark  niche  along  the  disc  of  non- 
existence to  which  he  can  retreat  from  his  relations  to  others, 
where  he  can  withdraw  the  influence  of  his  existence  upon  the 
moral  destiny  of  the  world.  Everywhere  his  presence  or 
absence  will  be  felt.  Everywhere  he  will  have  companions, 
wk'o  will  be  better  or  worse  for  his  influence. — Elihu  Burritt. 

Dr.  Trumbull  speaks  of  a  man  who  went  one  day  to  call  upon 
a  friend  in  one  of  our  theological  seminaries.  While  he  waited 
for  the  young  man  he  sought  an  opportunity  for  personal 
work.  The  janitor  came  through  the  hall.  He  never  had  seen  him 
before,  but  that  mattered  not ;  a  word  or  two  of  kindly  greet- 
ing opened  the  conversation ;  then  he  spoke  to  him  about  Christ. 
Before  his  friend  appeared  he  had  led  this  janitor  into  the 
kingdom.  Then  the  man  told  him  that  though  he  had  worked 
in  this  institution  for  years  and  had  come  in  daily  contact  with 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  201 

scores  of  men  who  were  preparing  for  the  gospel  ministry,  no 
one  had  ever  before  spoken  to  him  a  direct  word  concerning 
his  relation  to  Christ. — The  Passion  for  Souls. 

Histories  and  biographies  make  little  account  of  the  power 
men  exert  insensibly  over  each  other.  They  tell  how  men  have 
led  armies,  established  empires,  enacted  laws,  gained  causes, 
sung,  reasoned  and  taught — always  occupied  in  setting  forth 
what  they  do  with  a  purpose.  But  what  they  do  without  a 
purpose,  the  streams  of  influence  that  flow  out  from  their  per- 
sons unbidden  on  the  world,  they  cannot  trace  or  compute,  and 
seldom  even  mention. 

How  many  persons  do  you  meet,  the  insensible  influence  of 
whose  manners  and  character  is  so  decided  as  often  to  thwart 
their  voluntary  influence,  so  that,  whatever  they  attempt  to  do 
in  the  way  of  controlling  others,  they  are  sure  to  carry  the 
exact  opposite  of  what  they  intend! 

How  many  reject  Christ  because  of  friends  or  acquaintances 
who  have  no  suspicion  of  the  influence  they  exert,  and  will  not 
have  till  the  last  day  shows  them  what  they  have  done! 

How  well  understood  it  is  that  the  most  active  feelings  and 
impulses  of  mankind  are  contagious!  How  quick  enthusiasm 
of  any  sort  is  to  kindle,  and  how  rapidly  it  catches  from  one  to 
another,  till  a  nation  blazes  in  the  flame! 

If  every  disciple  is  to  be  an  "epistle  known  and  read  of  all 
men,"  what  shall  we  expect  but  that  all  men  will  be  somehow 
affected  by  the  reading?  Or  if  he  is  to  be  a  light  in  the  world, 
what  shall  we  look  for  but  that  others,  seeing  his  good  works, 
shall  glorify  God  on  his  account? 

If  without  heart  or  interest  you  attempt  to  move  another, 
the  involuntary  man  tells  what  you  are  doing  in  a  hundred 
ways  at  once.  A  hypocrite  endeavoring  to  exert  a  good 
influence  only  tries  to  convey  by  words  what  the  lying  look 
and  the  faithless  affectation  or  dry  exaggeration  of  his  manner 
perpetually  resist. 

It  is  folly  to  endeavor  to  make  ourselves  shine  before  we 
are  luminous.  If  the  sun  without  his  beams  should  talk  to  the 
planets,  and  argue  with  them  till  the  final  day,  it  would  not 


202  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

make  them  shine;  there  must  be  light  in  the  sun  itself,  and 
then  they  will  shine,  of  course. — From  Horace  Bushnell's  sermon 
indolent  will. — Selected. 

It  is  impossible  to  live  the  life  of  quiet,  calm  trust  in  God  in 
the  midst  of  the  turmoil  and  unrest  of  this  feverish  age,  without 
creating  an  atmosphere  of  quietness  and  peace  of  which  all  will 
become  conscious.  The  atmosphere  is  a  vindication  of  God, 
for  it  results  from  trust  implicitly  reposed  in  him.  We  have 
never  looked  upon  the  courageous  confidence  of  some  sorrow- 
ing saint  who  through  all  the  painful  process  has  evidenced  a 
quiet  strength  and  a  great  heart  satisfaction,  without  having 
realized  that  God's  methods  were  vindicated  in  his  children. 

For  these  purposes  Christians  exist.  The  value  of  every 
Christian  life  is  that  of  positive  and  powerful  testimony  to  the 
reality  of  the  spiritual,  the  possibility  of  victory  over  evil,  and 
the  beauty  of  the  divine  ideal  in  human  life.  This  testimony  is 
in  itself  of  the  nature  of  powerful  fellowship  in  activity  with 
God. 

And  finally,  wherever  the  Christian  life  is  clearly  seen,  it 
becomes  an  argument  vindicating  God  against  all  the  criticisms 
of  unbelief.  Christianity  is  infinitely  more  than  the  salvation  of 
the  individual.  It  is  that,  but  with  the  larger  purpose  of 
creating  an  influence,  exerting  an  opinion,  and  encompassing 
an  end.  The  goal  toward  which  Christ  moved  was  the  setting 
up  of  the  kinship  of  God,  and  the  restoration  of  a  lost  order. 
All  such  as  share  his  life  have  that  same  goal  in  view.  The 
whole  creation  groans  in  its  limitation,  and  waits  for  the  man- 
ifestation of  the  sons  of  God.  Every  such  present  manifesta- 
tion is  a  contribution  to  the  breaking  of  humanity's  bonds, 
the  ending  of  the  race's  limitation,  and  the  changing  of  groan- 
ing into  acclamation  and  worship. — From  "The  Life  of  the 
Christian." 

In  a  western  city  a  certain  voluptuary  built  him  a  room 
with  double  walls  and  double  doors  and  double  windows.  The 
noise  of  business,  the  traffic  of  earnest  people,  the  energy  and 
the  passion  of  life — these  were  abhorrent  to  him.  He  shut  out 
his  world.     He  hated  and  abhorred  the  profane  crowd.     Like 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  203 

Gallio,  he  desired  not  to  be  vexed  or  excited  by  unpleasant 
moral  questions,  and  to  let  his  life  flow  on  according  to  its 
indolent  will. — Selected. 

Our  Master  wants  us  to  shine  so  as  to  make  one  little  spot 
of  the  world  brighter.  Shining  is  always  costly.  Light  comes 
only  at  the  cost  of  that  which  produces  it.  An  unlit  candle 
does  no  shining.  Burning  must  come  before  shining.  We  can- 
not be  of  great  use  to  others  without  cost  to  ourselves.  Burn- 
ing suggests  suffering.  We  shrink  from  pain ;  we  do  not  set 
it  down  among  the  pleasant  things  of  our  life.  We  are  apt  to 
feel  that  we  are  doing  the  greatest  good  in  the  world  when  we 
are  strong  and  able  for  active  duty,  and  when  heart  and  hands 
are  full  of  kindly  services.  When  we  are  called  aside,  and  can 
only  suffer,  when  we  are  sick,  when  we  are  consumed  with 
pain,  when  all  of  our  activities  have  been  dropped — we  feel 
that  we  are  no  longer  of  use,  that  we  are  not  doing  anything. 
But  if  we  are  patient  and  submissive,  it  is  almost  certain  that 
we  are  a  greater  blessing  to  the  world  in  our  time  of  suffering 
and  pain  than  we  were  in  the  days  when  we  thought  we  were 
doing  the  most  by  our  work.  We  are  burning  now,  and  shin- 
ing because  we  are  burning. — /.  R.  Miller,  D.  D. 

We  may  print  religious  literature  and  scatter  it  over  the 
land  till,  falling  like  autumn  leaves,  it  drops  at  every  man's 
door.  But  the  world  will  not  read  books — it  is  too  busy,  too 
restless,  too  eager;  but,  my  brethren,  it  will  read  you,  and  it 
will  receive  or  reject  the  claims  of  the  religion  of  Christ  in 
proportion  as  it  finds  in  youi  every-day  work,  your  every-day 
life,  the  record  which  you  are  there  making,  the  witness  you 
are  giving. 

Lamps  do  not  talk,  but  they  do  shine.  A  lighthouse  sounds 
no  drum,  it  beats  no  gong,  and  yet  far  over  the  waters  its 
friendly  spark  is  seen  by  the  mariner.  So  let  your  actions  shine 
out  your  religion.  Let  the  main  sermon  of  your  life  be  illus- 
trated by  all  your  conduct. — Spurgeon. 

It  is  an  old  saying,  and  one  of  fearful  and  fathomless  import, 
that  we  are  here  forming  characters  for  eternity.  Forming 
characters!    Whose?    Our  own?  or  others?    Both;  and  in  that 

f 


204  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

momentous  fact  lie  the  peril  and  responsibility  of  our  existence. 
Who  is  sufficient  for  the  thought?  Thousands  of  my  fellow- 
beings  will  yearly,  and  till  years  shall  end,  enter  eternity  with 
characters  differing  from  those  they  would  have  carried  thither 
had  I  never  lived.  The  sunlight  of  that  world  will  reveal  my 
finger-marks  in  their  primary  formations,  and  in  all  their  suc- 
cessive strata  of  thought  and  life.  And  they,  too,  will  form 
other  characters  for  eternity  until  the  influence  of  my  existence 
shall  be  diffused  through  all  the  future  generations  of  this 
world  and  through  all  that  shall  be  future  to  a  certain  point 
in  the  world  to  come. — Elihu  Burritt. 

Before  the  Australian  gold  fields  were  opened,  experts  were 
sent  to  explore  the  district.  They  made  their  survey  and  sent 
in  their  report  that  gold  would  be  found.  But  somehow  no 
one  was  greatly  interested.  Some  time  after,  some  lads  came 
from  the  bush  to  Melbourne  with  some  lumps  of  yellow  ore 
in  their  pockets.  "Why,"  said  those  to  whom  they  showed  it, 
"that's  gold;  where  did  you  get  it?"  "Oh?"  said  they,  "there's 
plenty  of  it  up  our  way."  Next  morning  every  one  who  could 
go  was  off  to  the  diggings.  As  witnesses  to  Christ  our  lives 
must  show  that  we  have  the  nuggets. — Sunday  School  Chronicle. 

The  testimony  of  a  man's  life  cannot  be  controverted.  If  he 
is  evidently  transformed  from  a  self-seeking  sinner  into  a 
humble-minded  saint,  he  is  himself  the  living  witness  to  the 
truth  and  power  of  that  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  which  has 
wrought  the  transformation.  Lives  so  transformed,  witness 
thus  made  vital,  human  nature  crucified  with  Christ  to  live 
anew  in  him  are  the  proofs  of  gospel  demanded  by  the  stress 
of  the  present  time.  Scholarship  and  history  and  comparative 
religion  may  argue  persuasively  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  But 
the  final  argument,  the  irrefragable  testimony  is  the  living 
epistle,  written  in  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart,  known  and  read 
of  all  men. 

One  striking  example  of  the  power  of  such  a  living  epistle 
is  that  given  by  Henry  M.  Stanley,  in  his  account  of  his  asso- 
ciation for  a  brief  time  with  David  Livingstone.  "Had  my  soul 
been  of  brass,  and  my  heart  of  tin,  the  powers  of  my  head  had 
surely  compelled  me  to  recognize,  with  due  honor,  the  Spirit 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  205 

of  goodness  which  manifested  itself  in  him.  Had  there  been 
anything  of  the  Pharisee  or  the  hypocrite  in  him,  or  had  I  but 
traced  a  grain  of  meanness  or  guile  in  him,  I  had  surely  turned 
away  a  skeptic.  But  my  every-day  study  of  him,  during  health 
or  sickness,  deepened  my  reverence  and  increased  my  esteem. 
He  was,  in  short,  consistently  noble,  upright,  pious  and  manly, 
all  the  days  of  my  companionship  with  him." 

Such  a  life,  shaped  by  the  inner,  spiritual  forces  of  the  hid- 
den life  of  Jesus  Christ  within  the  man,  brought  into  genuine 
likeness  to  Jesus  Christ  himself,  was  the  sufficient  proof  to  the 
man  of  the  world  of  the  truth  of  that  religious  faith  which  the 
world-famous  missionary  confessed.  The  traveler  had  but  lit- 
tle time  or  patience  for  the  argumentations  of  scholarship  or 
philosophy.  The  living  epistle  of  Christ,  written  on  the  life 
of  the  man,  was  ample  testimony. 

It  is  such  witness  as  this  that  is  demanded  in  all  time,  and 
never  more  than  in  our  own  time.  Men  grow  weary  of  the 
contentions  of  scholars.  They  have  but  scant  regard  for  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  unsubstantial  theories  even  of  the  theo- 
logian. But  they  recognize  and  ackowledge  the  testimony  of 
a  life,  lived  in  simplicity  and  in  truth  before  their  own  eyes. 
Jerry  McAuley  is  a  more  effective  witness  than  Ernest  Renan. 
Livingstone's  personality  is  more  convincing  than  Eliot's  theo- 
rizing.— The  Presbyterian. 

There  is  nothing  so  powerful  for  good  as  a  godly  life.  The 
sermon  of  twenty-five  or  forty-five  minutes'  length  is  soon 
ended.  Too  often  it  is  forgotten  before  the  hearer  leaves  the 
house.  It  is  very  easy  for  Satan  to  catch  away  the  spoken 
word.  Soon  as  the  voice  of  the  preacher  is  still  the  world 
comes  in  like  a  flood,  drowning  every  thought  of  God  and 
eternity.  But  a  godly  life  is  a  long  sermon.  Such  a  preacher 
is  not  confined  to  a  half  hour,  but  has  years  of  impressive 
teaching  for  the  world.  The  one  who  lives  such  a  life  may  not 
be  highly  educated,  but  may  be  one  of  the  "foolish  things" 
which  God  chooses  to  confound  the  wise.  While  Satan  may 
catch  away  the  words  of  the  preacher,  he  can  not  steal  away 
the  influence  of  a  life  conformed  to  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
Many  an  infidel  has  remained  unmoved  as  he  has  listened  to 


206  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

powerful  sermons,  who  has  been  silenced  and  subdued  by  the 
consistent  life  of  a  Christian  wife.  The  world  is  a  sharp  critic. 
Worldly  men  know  what  a  Christian  should  be,  and  how  he 
should  live.  They  see  through  the  guise  of  the  hypocrite.  But 
they  take  knowledge  of  the  true  child  of  God,  that  he  has 
"been  with  Jesus."  The  greatest  obstacle  with  which  the  cause 
of  Christ  has  to  contend  is  a  church  conformed  to  the  world. 
Such  a  church  is  looked  upon  by  shrewd,  discerning  men  with 
contempt,  while  the  truth  lived  out  in  the  daily  life  of  some 
humble  follower  of  Christ  commends  itself  to  the  conscience  of 
everyone.  The  influence  of  such  a  life  is  mighty  for  good,  and 
will  be  as  lasting  as  eternity.  The  wicked  will  not  read  the 
Bible,  but  they  will  read  the  life  of  every  professor  of  religion. 
—N.  Day. 

Men  carry  unconscious  signs  of  their  life  about  them.  Those 
that  come  from  the  forge,  and  those  from  the  lime  and  mortar, 
and  those  from  the  humid  soil,  and  those  from  dusty  travel, 
bear  signs  of  their  work.  One  need  not  ask  a  merry  face 
or  a  sad  one  whether  it  hath  come  forth  from  joy  or  grief. 
Tears  and  laughter  tell  their  own  story.  Should  one 
come  home  with  fruit,  we  say,  "Thou  art  come  from 
the  orchard;"  if  the  hands  are  full  of  wild  flowers,  "Thou 
art  from  the  fields ;"  if  one's  garments  smell  of  mingled  odors, 
we  say,  "Thou  hast  walked  in  a  garden."  But  how  much 
more,  if  one  hath  seen  God,  hath  held  converse  of  hope  and 
love  and  hath  perfumed  raiment,  the  sacred  tokens  of  divine 
intercourse ! — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  speaking  of  the  importance  of  mak- 
ing our  lives  conform  to  what  we  profess,  says,  "There  can  be 
no  abiding  power  until  we  keep  our  conduct  abreast  of  our  pro- 
fession;  that  something  is  a  consistent  life.  It  is  a  beautiful 
thing  to  hear  one  who  is  gifted  in  speech  and  in  prayer  in  the 
prayer-meeting,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  there  is  something 
far  more  beautiful,  and  that  is,  for  one  to  be  able  from  Mon- 
day morning  until  Saturday  night  to  live  in  Christ.  Here  is 
a  power  infidelity  can  not  assail  nor  unbelief  deny.  If  you  are 
traveling  through  an  orange  country  you  are  sensible  all  the 
time  of  the  fact  that  the  orange  blossoms  are  about  you;  the 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  207 

fragrance  is  wafted  to  you  the  last  thing  at  night  and  the  first 
thing  in  the  morning;  it  even  makes  your  sleep  the  sweeter. 
There  is  a  sweetness  like  that  about  the  life  thai  is  truly 
'hid  with  Christ  in  God.'  " 

We  are  not  to  teach  that  wisdom  and  prudence  are  despised, 
but  that  the  wisdom  and  the  prudence  of  this  world  cannot 
bring  us  to  the  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth  in  Christ.  Kidd, 
in  Social  Evolution,  says,  "It  has  to  be  confessed  that  in 
England,  during  the  nineteenth  century,  the  educated  classes^ 
in  almost  all  the  great  political  changes  that  have  been  effect- 
ed, have  taken  the  side  of  the  party  afterward  admitted  to  have 
been  in  the  wrong.  They  have  invariably  opposed  at  the  time 
the  measures  they  have  subsequently  come  to  defend  and  jus- 
tify. The  motive  force  behind  the  long  list  of  progressive 
measures  *  *  *  has  come  almost  exclusively  from  the  middle 
and  lower  classes,  who  have  in  turn  acted,  not  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  intellectual  motives,  but  under  the  influence  of  their 
altruistic  feelings." — Augsburg  Teacher. 

"There  wa&  a  splendid  torch-light  procession  from  a  country 
station  in  America,  some  time  ago,  in  honor  of  a  returned  hero. 
As  the  procession  started,  one  torch  after  another  blazed  into 
radiance  as  if  touched  by  electricity.  One  could  not  tell  what 
lighted  them,  for  they  were  not  waiting  to  give  light  to  each 
other.  Presently  a  small  child  was  discovered  crouching  under 
some  timbers  to  keep  away  from  the  wind,  with  a  lighted 
candle  in  his  hand.  Every  torch-bearer  came  to  him  for  light. 
Silent,  smiling,  happy,  with  one  little  hand  sheltering  the  flame 
held  in  the  other,  this  little  fellow  was  lighting  up  the  world  of 
darkness."  There  is  a  deep  meaning  in  the  picture.  However 
small  anyone  may  be,  he  can  keep  his  own  light  of  faith  and 
love  in  God  burning.  It  may  not  be  a  very  big  light,  and  may 
need  to  be  sheltered  with  watchfulness,  lest  it  go  out;  but  it 
doesn't  take  a  big  light  to  light  a  big  torch.  The  faith  and  love 
of  a  little  child  in  the  Lord  Jesus  has  often  shown  grown  men 
and  women  the  way  to  him  and  kindled  their  lives  into  light, 
shining  for  God  and  truth.  Keep  the  flame  of  your  trust  and 
love  alive,  shield  it  with  prayer,  v^'atch  that  it  does  not  go  out. 
It  may  light  the  flame  of  Ipvp  and  devotion  in  another. — Selected. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Torch-Bearer. 

A  voice  came  ringing  down  the  way,  "Room !  room  for  the 
Torch-bearer !  room  for  the  keeper  of  the  gates  of  Tomorrow ! 
room !" 

"Ah!  yes,"  I  said.  "It  is  he,  the  great  sage,  who  has  light- 
ened the  world-shadows  this  many  a  year.  Who  should  bear 
the  torch  but  he?" 

I  looked,  and  the  sage  passed,  his  arms  folded  on  his  breast, 
his  calm  eyes  bent  forward,  seeing  many  things;  but  no  torch 
was  in  his  hand. 

And  still  the  cry  came  ringing  down  the  world's  way,  "Room 
for  the  Torch-bearer !  make  way !  make  way  for  the  keeper  of 
the  gates  of  Tomorrow!" 

"Ah!"  I  said.  "It  will  be  the  mighty  leader,  then;  he  who 
so  long  has  marshaled  our  hearts,  and  led  us  whithersoever  he 
would  with  a  wave  of  his  hand.  Hail  to  him,  hail  to  the  Mas- 
ter of  Armies!" 

But  as  I  looked,  the  master  passed,  and  his  truncheon  hung 
low  by  his  side,  and  his  eyes  looked  downward,  remembering; 
and  no  torch  was  in  his  hand. 

Yet  still,  as  I  marveled,  came  that  great  cry  ringing  down  the 
world's  way,  and  now^  it  sounded  loud  in  my  ears: 

"Room !  room !  make  way,  give  place !  the  Torch-bearer 
comes.     Make  way  for  the  keeper  of  the  gates  of  God !" 

And  once  more  I  looked. 

Ah  I  bare  and  dusty  were  her  .eet,  the  little  woman ;  and  she 
went  bowed,  and  stumbled  on  the  rough  stones,  for  the  great 
torch  hung  heavy  in  her  hand,  and  heavy  the  babe  on  her  arm ; 
but  he  sat  there  as  on  a  throne,  and  laughed  and  leaped  as  he 
sat,  and  clutched  the  living  torch  and  shook  it,  flinging  the 
blaze  abroad,  and  the  world-way  lightened  before  him.— LaMm  E. 
Richards,  in  The  Sih      Crown. 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  209 

"What's  Come  Over  Murray?" 

An  alert-minded  pastor  said,  "A  young  man  came  to  me 
recently,  asking,  'What  Christian  work  can  I  do?'  I  said, 'What 
time  do  you  rise  in  the  morning?'  He  answered,  'Six-thirty.' 
'And  breakfast?'  'Seven.'  'What  do  you  do  next?'  'I  go  to 
the  office.'  'What  do  you  do  then?'  'I  work  steadily  until 
noon,  then  I  take  an  hour  for  lunch,  work  until  five-thirty  or 
later,  and  then  go  home  to  dinner.'  'And  then  what?'  'I  read, 
talk,  sometimes  we  go  to  a  concert,  and  then  go  to  bed.'  'Is 
that  a  sample  day?'  'Just  about.'  'Murray,'  I  said,  'God  has 
so  filled  your  day,  that  I  don't  see  how  you  can  get  in  much 
time  for  Christian  work.'  'I  guess  that's  so,*  he  said,  and  rose 
to  go.  'Wait,  Murray,'  I  said.  'Are  there  others  employed 
where  you  are?'  'Yes,  lots  of  them.'  'How  do  you  do  your 
work;  as  well  as  the  rest,  more  poorly,  or  better?'  'Oh,  as 
well  as  any  of  them,  I  think.'  'Do  they  know  you  are  a  Chris- 
tian?' 'Why  yes,  I  suppose  so.'  'Do  they  know  you  are  anxious 
to  do  Christian  work?'  'No,  I  don't  believe  they  do.'  'See 
here,  Murray!'  I  said,  'here's  Christian  work  for  you,  that  you 
can  commence  tomorrow.  Do  your  work  better  than  you  ever 
did.  See  what  needs  to  be  done  as  you  never  did.  Help  the 
other  fellow  who  is  behind,  if  you  can.  Let  them  all  know 
you  are  a  Christian,  by  living  it.  Get  some  fellow  to  stop 
swearing,  or  drinking.  Preach  Christ  by  your  life.  Try  it.' 
He  said  that  he  would.  Six  weeks  later,  I  met  the  superin- 
tendent. He  said,  'Isn't  Murray  one  of  your  men?'  I  said  he 
was.  'Well,  what's  come  over  Murray?'  I  told  him  I  didn't 
know  that  anything  had.  'Well,'  he  said,  'there  has.  He's 
the  best  clerk  in  the  whole  place ;  has  the  best  influence  there. 
The  men  all  notice  it.  There's  a  different  atmosphere  in  the 
department,  and  there  has  been  for  a  month  or  more.  He's  a 
Christian  sure.     Something's  come  over  Murray.' ' 

Self  Sacrifice  For  Others. 
The  most  dangerous  point  on  the  Atlantic  coast  is  the  life 
saving  station  at  Cape  Hatteras,  commanded  by  Captain  Pat 
Etheridge.  He  is  a  big,  tall  man  with  a  splendid,  strong  body, 
keen  eyes,  kindly  face  and  long,  bushy  beard.  He  has  asked 
several  times  to  be  removed,  for  he  is  more  than  sixty  years 


210  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

old,  but  the  government  insists  on  keeping  him  at  this  station. 

The  peculiar  danger  of  this  post  is  that  the  wrecked  vessels 
are  not  thrown  up  on  the  beach  in  easy  reach  of  the  life-saving 
station,  but  go  to  pieces  on  the  Diamond  Shoals,  ten  miles  out 
to  sea,  and  the  crew  must  go  that  distance  to  save  them. 

Several  years  ago,  a  vessel  foundered  on  these  shoals  in  a 
fearful  storm.  Her  signals  of  distress  were  seen  from  the  light- 
house and  Captain  Pat  got  ready  the  self-bailing  lifeboat, 
which  is  fitted  up  with  mast  and  sails  as  well  as  oars.  Mean- 
while the  storm  grew  worse  and  the  wind,  which  was  off  shore, 
grew  more  violent  every  moment.  He  ordered  the  crew  to 
launch  the  boat — but  they  hesitated.  They  were  men  who  had 
risked  their  lives  in  a  hundred  brave  adventures,  but  now  they 
paused.  They  looked  at  the  hungry  sea  running  so  high,  and 
off  to  where  the  breakers  thundered  on  the  shoals,  and  they 
listened  to  the  roar  of  the  storm.  Then  one  of  them  spoke; 
'■'Captain  Pat,  it's  no  use  with  that  wind,  we  can  launch  the 
boat  and  we  can  reach  the  ship,  but  we  can  never  come  back." 
There  was  silence,  except  for  the  wail  of  the  storm  growing 
louder,  then  Captain  Pat  said,  "Boys,  we  don't  have  to  come 
back." 

The  crew  looked  into  the  flashing  eyes  of  their  captain;  they 
understood  and  as  one  man  they  launched  the  boat.  They 
reached  the  wreck,  took  off  the  survivors,  and,  the  wind  chang- 
ing a  point  or  two,  after  nine  hours  of  the  most  heroic  toil 
they  got  back  to  the  station.  And  the  captain's  words,  "Boys, 
we  don't  have  to  come  back,"  are  repeated  by  men  at  all  the 
life-saving  stations  on  both  our  coasts  wherever  there  are  dan- 
gers to  run,  deeds  to  do,  and  lives  to  save. — Welsh. 

A  Word  in  Season. 

On  a  cold  winter  evening,  said  Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler,  I  made  my 
first  call  on  a  rich  merchant  in  New  York.     As  I  left  the  door 
and  the  piercing  gale  swept  in,  I  said : 
"What  an  awful  night  for  the  poor!" 

He  went   back,  and   bringing  to  me  a  roll    of   bank   bills,    said, 
"Please  hand  these  for  me  to  the  poorest  people  you  know." 
After  a  few  days  I  wrote  to  him  the  grateful  thanks  of  the 
poor  whom  his  bounty  had  relieved,  and  added, 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  211 

"How  is  it  that  a  man  so  kind  to  his  fellow  creatures  has 
always  been  so  unkind  to  his  Savior  as  to  refuse  him  his 
heart?" 

That  sentence  touched  him  to  the  core.  He  sent  for  me  to 
come  and  talk  with  him,  and  speedily  gave  himself  to  Christ, 
He  has  been  a  most  useful  Christian  ever  since.  But  he  told 
me  I  was  the  first  person  who  had  talked  to  him  about  his 
soul  in  twenty  years.  One  hour  of  work  did  more  for  that 
man  than  the  pulpit  effort  of  a  lifetime. 

Brethren,  don't  neglect  the  hand-to-hand  and  face-to-face 
combat.  Be  diligent  seekers  of  individual  souls.  Watch  your 
opportunities. 

Leading  Others  Astray. 

A  little  clock  in  a  jeweler's  window  in  a  certain  western 
town  stopped  one  day  for  half  an  hour,  at  fifteen  minutes  of 
nine.  School  children,  noticing  the  time,  stopped  to  play ;  people 
hurrying  to  the  train,  looking  at  the  clock,  began  to  walk 
leisurely;  professional  men,  after  a  look  at  the  clock,  stopped 
to  chat  a  minute  with  one  another;  working  men  and  women 
noted  the  time  and  lingered  a  little  longer  in  the  sunshine,  and 
all  were  half  an  hour  late  because  one  small  clock  stopped. 
Never  had  these  people  known  how  much  they  had  depended 
upon  that  clock  till  it  had  led  them  astray. 

Many  are  thus  unconsciously  depending  upon  the  influence 
of  Christians ;  you  may  think  you  have  no  influence,  but  you 
cannot  go  wrong  in  one  little  act  without  leading  others  astray. 
— The  Seattle  Churchman. 

How  Much  One  Life  Can  Do. 
The  Mississippi  has  in  the  course  of  ages  transported  from 
the  mountains  and  high  land  within  its  drainage  area  sufficient 
material  to  make  400,000  square  miles  of  new  land  by  filling  up 
an  estuary  which  extended  from  its  original  outfall  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  for  a  length  of  500  miles  and  in  width  from  30  to 
40  miles.  This  river  is  still  pouring  solid  matter  into  the  Gulf, 
where  it  is  spread  out  in  a  fan-like  shape  over  an  extended 
coast  line,  depositing  362,000,000  tons  a  year,  or  six  times  as 
much  soil  as  was  removed  in  the  construction  of  the  Manches- 
ter ship   canal,   and  sufficient  to   make  a   square   mile  of  new 


212  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST  ♦ 

land,  allowing  for  its  having  to  fill  up  the  Gulf,  to  a  depth  of 
eighty  yards.  Some  idea  of  the  vastness  of  this  operation  may 
be  conceived  when  the  fact  is  considered  that  some  of  this 
soil  has  to  be  transported  more  than  3,000  miles;  and  that  if 
the  whole  of  it  had  to  be  carried  in  boats  at  the  lowest  rate  at 
which  heavy  material  is  carried  on  the  inland  waters  of  Amer- 
ica, or  say  for  one-tenth  of  a  penny  per  ton  per  mile  over  an 
average  of  half  the  total  distance,  the  cost  would  be  no  less  a 
sum  than  $1,190,000,000  a  year. 

Her  Influence  For  Evil. 
A  certain  mother  in  one  of  our  large  towns  was  very  fond 
of  playing  progressive  euchre.  One  evening  she  received  a 
fine  silver  cup  for  being  the  most  successful  player  in  a  group 
of  her  society  friends.  She  was  much  delighted  with  her  suc- 
cess, and  on  showing  it  to  her  family  the  next  morning,  her 
son,  in  his  early  teens,  said,  "Huh !  I  can  beat  that,  for  I  made 
ten  dollars  at  the  pool  table  last  night!" — The  Ram's  Horn. 

Following  a  Leader. 

Richard  Cecil  records  the  story  of  a  flock  of  lambs  that  was 
crossing  a  bridge  over  the  Severn.  Something  hindered  their 
passage,  and  one  leaped  over  upon  the  stone  abutment  and  fell 
into  the  stream.  The  rest  followed  his  example,  leaped  over 
and  were  also  drowned.  Scarcely  less  is  the  fatuity  which  men 
show  in  following  the  evil  example  of  their  associates  and 
rushing  on  to  ruin  with  their  eyes  wide  open. 
"The  Man  Next  Door." 

Some  kinds  of  Christianity  are  effective  only  at  long  dis- 
tances, their  beauty  and  usefulness  being  in  proportion  to  the 
distance  from  which  one  views  them;  which  means  that  at 
close  quarters  they  are  neither  useful  nor  beautiful.  It  seems 
more  than  doubted  whether  such  religion  has  any  claim  at  all 
to  be  called  Christian,  and  yet  it  is  common  enough  in  every- 
day life.  There  are  Chinese  converts  possibly  blessing  some 
saintly  brother  in  Canada  because  of  his  generosity  and  Chris- 
tian kindness,  v/hile  his  next  door  neighbors  in  Canada  have 
never  heard  hira  speak  a  kindly  word,  nor  even  seen  him  smile. 
The  religion  that  will  not  stand  the  next-door  neighbor  test  is 
not  what  the  world  needs. 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  213 

Then  the  next  door  neighbor  is  often  worth  knowing.  We 
look  for  saints  and  heroes  in  the  far  distance,  and  they  are  liv- 
ing right  upon  our  own  street.  Some  of  us  would  gladly  go  a 
thousand  miles  to  talk  with  some  one  who  has  become  to  us  a 
hero,  and  yet  it  may  be  that  within  sound  of  our  voice  is  some 
one  greater  than  he.  The  man  next  door  may  be  worth  know- 
ing.    Try  to  find  him  out ! — The  Christian  Guardian. 

Few  Talents. 

It  was  a  great  joy  to  us,  says  a  noted  Presbyterian  pastor, 
during  a  recent  season  of  special  meetings,  to  have  a  very 
humble  serving  maid  bring  to  us  on  three  successive  occasions 
a  soul  whom  she  had  sought  out  and  won  to  Christ,  or  at  least 
to  a  willingness  to  be  taught  the  way  of  salvation.  It  made  us 
as  sorry  for  many  others  of  larger  opportunity  and  great  abil- 
ities. The  maid  with  one  talent  was  doing  more  for  her  Master 
than  many  to  whom  he  had  given  ten.  Some  positions  will  be 
reversed  in  the  Kingdom. 

The  Power  of  Influence. 

A  chief  of  police  reports  that  many  of  the  criminals  who 
come  under  his  charge  confess  that  their  fall  came  as  a  result 
of  reading  exciting  tales  of  crime.  These  stories  are  forgotten 
perhaps  for  years,  or  until  the  emergency  arises,  and  then 
there  flashes  through  the  mind  the  plot  or  device  cleverly  suir- 
gested  by  those  early  stories.  In  the  belief  that  he  will  not 
be  caught,  the  tempted  man  repeats  some  one  experience  witi? 
as  he  thinks,  a  little  added  cunning.      The  result  is  disgrace 

One  of  the  most  eminent  surgeons  in  New  England  recently 
said,  "I  was  influenced  more  in  my  early  days  by  reading 
The  Youth's  Companion  than  by  any  other  factor."  Successful 
men  from  every  walk  of  life  voluntarily  testify  that  sortiQ  influence 
in  early  years,  such  as  reading  stories  of  really  heroic  men  and 
women,  has  helped  them  to  solve  difficulties,  and  to  be  fear- 
less in  right  doing  at  crucial  periods. 

What  One  Woman  Did. 

About  twenty  years  ago  a  Christian  woman  of  London  was 
asked  to  take  charge  of  a  Bible  class  of  three  young  women. 
She  shrank  from  its  responsibilities,  but,  with  many  misgiv- 
ings,   consented    to    the    trial.     The    first    month's    experiences 


214  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

were  so  encouraging  that  she  consented  to  go  on  with  the 
work,  and  the  class  constantly  increased  in  numbers.  From 
fifty  it  soon  grew  to  eighty,  and  a  larger  room  was  provided. 
In  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  Bible  class  became  five 
hundred  strong,  and  now,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine,  the  faith- 
ful teacher  has  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus.  This  was  the  secret  of 
her  success.  She  knew  the  members  of  her  large  class,  and  called 
them  by  their  names.  She  visited  them  at  their  homes,  and  wrote 
letters  to  the  absent  ones.  For  each  and  for  all  of  them  she 
prayed  unceasingly.  Her  pupils  are  scattered  over  the  whole 
earth,  and  many  of  them  are  telling  to  others  the  good  things  she 
brought  to  them. 

Her  Influence. 
A  woman  was  converted  on  Sunday  night.  She  was  the  mother 
of  six  boys,  and  on  Monday  she  broughi:  one  of  them,  on  Tuesday 
another,  on  Wednesday  another ;  on  Thursday,  I  think,  she  brought 
two;  and  on  Friday  she  brought  a  motherless  youth  of  seventeen, 
who  lived  with  her.  On  Saturday  night  there  was  a  testimony 
meeting,  and  she  arose  and  spoke.  Her  face  was  a  study ;  it 
showed  something  of  the  blessing  she  had  got  within.  "God  has 
done  great  things  for  me  this  week,"  she  said.  "He  saved  me  last 
Sunday,  and  I  started  to  pray  for  my  boys  and  husband.  He  saved 
five  of  my  boys  and  this  motherless  youth.  Tomorrow  my  hus- 
band will  be  saved.  He  is  a  blasphemer.  He  does  not  know 
I  have  been  praying  for  him.  He  and  my  first  born  will  be 
converted  tomorrow ;  God  is  going  to  give  me  both.  If  he  does 
not  (holding  up  her  Bible),  this  book  is  not  true.  But  I  know, 
I  know  that  God  will  save  them  both  tomorrow."  I  cannot  tell 
you  the  thrill  that  went  over  the  house  when  that  woman's 
faith,  so  triumphant,  was  thus  shown.  When  we  had  prayed,  the 
meeting  was  dismfssed.  The  next  morning  the  husband  left  his 
signal  box  on  the  railroad  at  six  o'clock  (he  had  been  on  duty  all 
night),  and  when  he  got  home,  to  the  cottage  in  which  we  lived,* 
he  said  to  his  wife,  "Let  me  have  some  breakfast  as  soon  as  you 
can.  I  want  what  little  sleep  I  can  get  this  morning,  for  I  am 
going  to  hear  that  man,  Gipsy  Smith,  both  this  afternoon  and  to- 
night." His  wife  replied'  "That  is  right;  we  have  been  praying 
for  you."  "For  me?"  "Yes,  all  this  week.  God  saved  me  last 
Sunday,  and  I  have  brought  five  of  the  children  into  the  kingdom, 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  215 

and  we  have  been  praying  for  you."  "For  me?"  "Yes,  Gipsy 
Smith  prayed  for  you  last  night,  and  all  the  church  said  'Amen.'  " 
"What  time  was  it?"  "It  was  half  past  eight  when  we  were 
praying  for  you."  The  husband  replied,  "At  half  past  eight 
the  line  was  clear.  I  had  nothing  to  do  for  a  little  while  but 
to  think,  and  I  thought  of  my  children  and  of  the  wicked  life 
I  have  lived,  and  something  spoke  to  me  in  that  hour  in  the 
signal  box  and  said,  'You  ought  to  be  a  Christian,  for  your  wife's 
sake,  your  children's  sake,  your  own  sake  and  for  Christ's  sake." 

Forfeited  Opportunity. 
Mrs,  Barney,  the  prison  worker,  went  to  a  western  city  to 
speak.  She  was  met  at  the  railway  station  by  a  lady  who  was 
to  entertain  her.  She  went  to  the  home  of  her  hostess  in  an 
old  rattletrap  carriage  driven  by  a  red-nosed  young  man. 
When  Mrs.  Barney  stepped  inside  the  door  of  the  home 
her  hostess  apologized  for  the  appearance  of  carriage  and 
driver,  explaining  that  she  did  not  feel  free  to  employ  any 
other,  and  said,  "O  Mrs.  Barney,  will  you  kneel  here  with  me 
and  pray  for  that  driver?"  After  the  prayer  she  told  Mrs. 
Barney  the  story.  Several  years  before  she  had  been  given 
a  class  of  five  boys  in  the  Sunday  school  of  her  church.  These 
boys  had  been  gathered  from  the  streets.  She  thought  it  her 
duty  to  entertain  the  boys  by  telling  them  stories  during  the 
lesson  hour,  and  when  the  matter  of  their  personal  salvation 
would  be  pressed  home  on  her  she  would  say,  "Oh,  that  isn't 
my  business ;  that's  the  pastor's  work."  After  a  time  she 
moved  to  another  city  and  was  compelled  to  give  up  her  class. 
During  her  residence  in  that  city  she  came  to  a  new  vision  of 
Christ.  Then  she  began  to  realize  that  she  had  lost  a  golden 
opportunity  in  that  she  had  neglected  to  teach  the  Bible  in  such 
a  way  as  to  lead  those  boys  to  a  personal  knowledge  of  Christ. 
Five  years  afterward  she  returned  to  the  city  and  inquired  for 
her  boys.  No  one  in  the  church  knew  anything  about  them. 
One  day  she  found  this  young  man  driving  a  cab,  and  he  was 
under  the  influence  of  liquor.  When  she  asked  him  about  the 
other  boys,  he  said,  "Oh,  lady,  two  of  us  is  dead,  and  two  of 
us  in  prison,  and  I'm  the  only  one  left!"  She  begged  him  to 
sign   the  pledge   and   become   a   Christian,   but  he   said,   "No, 


216  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

lady;   there   was   a   time   when   I   would   have    done   anything 

for  you,  but  it's  too  late  now — too  late  now."     She  had  lost 

her  opportunity.  v 

Spoiling  a  Poem. 

Coleridge  fell  asleep  while  reading  the  passage  in  "Purchas's 
Pilgrimage,"  in  which  is  mentioned  "the  stately  pleasure 
house."  On  awakening  he  was  in  possession  of  a  poem  of 
several  hundred  lines,  all  complete,  which  he  began  transcrib- 
ing without  any  consciousness  of  effort.  It  was  "Kubla 
Khan,"  and  he  wrote  fifty-four  lines  of  it  as  rapidly  as  he 
could  scribble  down  the  words.  Then  a  caller  came  in,  stayed 
an  hour,  and  when  he  left,  the  rest  of  the  poem  had  almost 
faded  out,  had  grown  so  dim  that  he  could  not  recall  it,  and 
the  world  lost  a  beautiful  poem  through  the  casual  intrusion  of 
a  nameless  caller.  So  one  life  may  influence  the  destiny  of 
another  for  weal  or  woe. 

Responsibility  for  Influence. 

Two  men  I  honor,  and  no  third.  First,  the  toilworn  crafts- 
man that  with  earth-made  implement  laboriously  conquers  the 
earth,  and  makes  her  man's.  Venerable  to  me  is  the  hard 
hand;  crooked,  coarse;  wherein,  notwithstanding,  lies  a  cun- 
ning virtue,  indefeasibly  royal,  as  of  the  scepter  of  this  planet. 
Venerable,  too,  is  the  rugged  face,  all  weather-tanned,  besoiled, 
with  its  rude  intelligence;  for  it  is  the  face  of  a  man  living 
manlike.  Oh,  but  the  more  venerable  for  thy  rudeness,  and 
even  because  we  must  pity  as  well  as  love  thee!  Hardly- 
entreated  brother!  For  us  was  thy  back  so  bent,  for  us  were 
thy  straight  limbs  and  fingers  so  deformed ;  thou  wert  our 
conscript,  on  whom  the  lot  fell,  and  fighting  our  battles  wert  so 
marred.  For  in  thee,  too,  lay  a  god-created  form,  but  it  was 
not  to  be  unfolded;  encrusted  must  it  stand  with  the  thick 
adhesions  and  defacements  of  labor ;  and  thy  body,  like  thy  soul, 
was  not  to  know  freedom.  Yet  toil  on,  toil  on ;  thou  art  in 
thy  duty,  be  out  of  it  who  may;  thou  toilest  for  the  altogether 
indispensable,  for  daily  bread. 

A  second  man  I  honor,  and  still  more  highly:  Him  who  is 
seen  toiling  for  the  spiritually  indispensable;  not  daily  bread, 
but  the  bread  of  life.     Is  not  he,  too,  in  his  duty;  endeavoring 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  217. 

towards  inward  harmony ;  revealing  this,  by  act  or  by  word, 
through  all  his  outward  endeavors,  be  they  high  or  low? 
Highest  of  all,  when  his  outward  and  his  inward  endeavor  are 
one;  when  we  can  name  him  artist;  not  earthly  craftsman 
only,  but  inspired  thinker,  who  with  heaven-made  implement 
conquers  heaven  for  us !  If  the  poor  and  humble  toil  that  we 
have  food,  must  not  the  high  and  glorious  toil  for  him  in  turn, 
that  he  have  light,  have  guidance,  freedom,  immortality?  These 
two,  in  all  their  degrees,  I  honor ;  all  else  is  chaff  and  dust,  which 
let  the  wind  blow  whither  it  listeth. — Thomas  Carlyle,  in  Sartor 
Resartus. 

The  Romance  of  the  Lighthouse. 

To  keep  a  "good  light" — that  is,  one  which  is  always  reliable, 
always  on  time ;  which  never  goes  out,  except  for  those  una- 
voidable instants  when  a  chimney  burns,  says  C.  H.  Claudy, 
in  the  Woman's  Home  Companion,  to  have  each  glass  of  the 
hundreds  flashing  like  a  diamond ;  to  have  every  part  of  the 
equipment  immaculate ;  never  to  have  the  light  ''go  back"  and 
be  reported — these  are  the  simple  ambitions  and  the  code  of 
laws  of  the  lightkeepers.  And  nothing,  nothing,  must  keep 
the  light  from  being  lit,  and  staying  lit.  And  no  excuse,  save 
that  of  an  act  of  God,  can  avail  a  keeper  if  his  light  is  "black" 
and  it  becomes   known. 

There  is  a  tale  which  was  told  to  the  writer  by  an  old, 
old  lightkeeper — who  had  been  keeper  of  a  first  order,  second 
order,  then  a  third  order  and  finally  a  fourth  order  light,  at  his 
own  request,  whert  he  could  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days 
with  the  lesser  duties  of  the  smaller  light.  *'Jim  was  a  fine 
keeper,"  said  the  old  keeper.  "He  was  thirty-two  years  on 
the  Point  Blank  light  and  never  once  had  his  light  'gone 
black*  nor  anything  been  said  against  him.  He  loved  his 
light  next  fo  his  wife.  Had  he  loved  his  wife  second  and  his 
light  first  he  would  be  there  yet.  Both  his  assistants  were 
oflF,  one  sick,  t'othor  away  sometvhere,  and  Jim  was  sitting  up 
nights  with  the  light  and  doing  the  housework,  days,  'cause 
his  woman  was  sick,  fdo.  And  it  told  on  hmi.  And  one 
night  Jim  dropped  off  to  sleep  in  his  chair  under  the  light. 
He  slept  twenty  minutes.  When  he  woke  the  place  was  full  of 
smoke  and  his  light  wias  black.     Chimney  had  melted.     The 


218  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

light  was  reported  to  Washington,  and  Jim  had  to  go  to  the 
board.  He  said  they  took  him  in  like  a  brother  and  treated 
him  like  a  friend,  but  he  knew  he  had  to  go.  They  said  they 
hated  to  do  it,  that  they  knew  his  record  was  fine,  but  that 
while  they  were  sure  it  would  never  happen  again,  still  for 
the  good  of  the  service  and  the  effect  it  would  have  on  the 
rest  of  us,  he  had  to  go.  His  heart  is  broken,  and  it  killed  his 
wife.  But  they  are  two ;  the  lights  are  for  all  of  them — "  and 
the  old  man  waved  his  arm  toward  the  bay  and  its  teeming 
life  of  ships. 

A  Testimony. 
Once,  in  Prince  Edward  Island,  at  a  prayer  meeting,  several 
had  spoken  of  important  works  they  had  done  in  the  Lord's 
cause.  At  last  an  aged  man  arose,  with  stooping  body  and 
trembling,  and  said  in  a  faltering  voice,  "Brethren,  I  am  a 
mighty  shabby  fellow,"  and  then  tumbled  back  into  his  seat. 
His  testimony  made  far  more  impression  of  real  godliness 
than  all  the  others. — Peloiihct. 

Emphasized  by  Repetition. 
An  evangelist  tells  how  a  bargeman  was  won  through  a 
single  text  oft  repeated.  It  seems  that  one  of  his  mates 
persuaded  the  man  to  go  and  hear  Mr,  Moody.  The  preacher 
did  not  touch  him ;  but  a  gentleman  gave  him  a  tract  in  which 
he  read,  "Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 
(John  6:37.)  He  went  to  another  meeting,  and  received 
another  tract  with  the  same  words,  "Him  that  cometh  to 
me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  It  seemed  very  strange  to 
meet  the  same  words  twice ;  but  the  strangeness  increased  when 
a  gentleman  came  alongside  in  a  canoe  and  threw  a  book  on 
board.  "It  was  a  little  one,"  said  the  man,  "and  when  I  opened 
it  the  first  thing  I  clapped  my  eyes  on  was,  'Him  that  cometh 
to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.'  "  Three  times  in  one  week 
was  pretty  good,  but  there  was  more  to  follow.  He  received 
a  letter  from  his  wife,  whom  he  had  left  at  home;  in  it  she 
told  of  a  meeting  she  had  attended,  and  quoted  the  text  of  the 
preacher:  "Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 
"On  the  strength  of  those  words  I  came,"  said  the  bargee,  "and 
he  did  not  cast  me  out." 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  219 

Influence. 

A  native  king  in  West  Africa  was  induced  by  a  missionary 
to  lay  aside  his  royalty  for  a  time  and  attend  a  Christian  edu- 
cational institution.  He  graduated  with  honors,  but  having 
head  knowledge  only,  went  back  to  his  tribe,  put  on  his 
heathen  clothes,  took  a  half  dozen  wives,  and  sank  back  into 
degradation.  Bishop  Taylor  preached  to  him  one  day  for 
fully  two  hours,  but  left  him  still  in  darkness.  Soon  after,  the 
bishop  established  a  mission  station  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
opposite  the  king's  palace.  A  lady  opened  a  nursery,  and 
soon  had  twenty  native  children  under  her  care.  In  less  than 
two  years  most  of  them  were  genuinely  converted,  and  at  a 
public  meeting  were  called  upon  to  testify,  from  personal 
experience,  to  the  reality  of  the  salvation  of  Jesus.  One  by 
one  these  children  stood  on  a  box,  and  told  the  story  with 
such  simple  clearness  and  evident  truthfulness  that  the  heathen 
were  convinced.  The  king  and  several  of  his  chiefs  were 
brought  to  God,  and  he  became  the  native  pastor  of  the 
church  erected  in  his  village. — Illustrator. 

The  Opportunities  of  Insignificance. 

From  the  Bureau  of  Entomology  in  Washington  to  the 
dromedary  corrals  of  Algeria  seems  a  far  cry.  But  the  one 
has  come  to  the  aid  of  the  other  in  an  interesting  experiment 
now  under  way.  Dromedaries  suffer  from  a  trypanosome 
disease  with  which  they  are  inoculated  by  gadflies,  just  as 
human  beings  are  inoculated  with  the  sleeping  sickness  by 
the  tsetse  fly.  These  gadflies  have  no  effective  enemies  on 
the  ground.  Dr.  Edmond  Sergent,  of  the  Pasteur  Institute, 
who  has  been  studying  the  disease,  wrote  to  Dr.  Howard,  ask- 
ing what  could  be  done. 

"I  think  we've  got  what  you  want,"  answered  the  American 
entomologist,  and  sent  down  south  for  some  "horse  guards." 
The  "horse  guard"  is  a  large  and  powerful  digger  wasp,  which 
attends  a  horse  much  as  a  rhinoceros  bird  attends  that  huge 
pachyderm,  to  make  its  own  living.  Any  and  all  kinds  of 
gadflies  are  food  for  the  "guard."  One  by  one  it  picks  them 
off  the  horse's  back,  kills  them  with  a  savage  thrust,  and 
carries  them  off  to  its  little  cave,  where  they  are  neatly  stored 


220  THE   PASTOR   HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

to  furnish  nutriment  to  the  future  generation  of  "diggers." 
A  reasonably  industrious  horse  guard  is  good  for  several  hun- 
dred assorted  gadflies  per  day.  Cocoons  of  this  useful  wasp 
were  sent  to  Algeria,  packed  in  refrigerating  baskets  to  retard 
hatching,  and  with  them  photographs  of  the  cave  nests,  with 
full  description,  to  aid  in  the  building  of  the  new  home.  The 
insects  arrived  in  good  condition,  and  were  introduced  to  the 
specially  constructed  apartments  prepared  for  them.  They 
have  thus  far  appeared  to  be  satisfied  in  the  new  environment, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  prove  even  more 
beneficent  to  the  dromedary  than  they  have  to  the  horsej — 
The  American  Magazine. 

The  Joy  of  Remembering  Opportunity  Improved. 
"Tomorrow   when   the   ears   are   dull   that   long  to   hear  your 

voice. 
The  loving  words  you  spoke  today  will  bid  your  heart  rejoice; 
Tomorrow,  when  from  silent  lips  the  smile  shall  disappear. 
You  will  be  glad  if  through  today  they  smiled  when  you  were 
near." 

Steering  by  Mother's  Light. 

A  very  beautiful  story  is  related  of  a  boat  out  at  sea  carry- 
ing in  it  a  father  and  his  little  daughter.  As  they  were  steer- 
ing for  the  shore  they  were  overtaken  by  a  violent  storm, 
which  threatened  to  destroy  them.  The  coast  was  dangerous. 
The  mother  lighted  a  lamp  and  started  up  the  worn  stairway 
to  the  attic  window.  "It  won't  do  any  good,  mother,"  the  son 
called  after  her.  But  the  mother  went  up,  put  the  light  in 
the  window,  knelt  beside  it  and  prayed.  Out  in  the  storm  the 
daughter  saw  a  glimmer  of  gold  on  the  water's  edge.  "Steer 
for  that,"  the  father  said.  Slowly  but  steadily,  they  came 
toward  the  light,  and  at  last  were  anchored  in  the  little  shel- 
tered harbor  by  the  cottage. 

"Thank  God!"  cried  the  mother,  as  she  heard  their  glad 
voices,  and  came  down  the  stairway  with  a  lamp  in  her  hand. 
"How  did  you  get  here?"  she  said. 

"We  steered  by  mother's  light,"  answered  the  daughter, 
"although  we  did  not  know  what  it  was  out  there." 

"Ah!"  thought  the  boy,  a  wayward  boy,  "it  is  time  I  was 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  221 

steering  by  my  mother's  light."  And  ere  he  slept  he  surren- 
dered himself  to  God  and  asked  him  to  guide  him  over  life's 
rough  sea.  Months  went  by,  and  disease  smote  him,  "He 
can't  live  long,"  was  the  verdict  of  the  doctor;  and  one  stormy 
night  he  lay  dying.  "Do  not  be  afraid  for  me,"  he  said,  as 
they  wept;  "I  shall  make  the  harbor,  for  I  am  steering  by  my 
mother's  light." — Sent  of  God. 

Influence  of  Evil. 
In  a  gun  factory,  a  great  bar  of  steel,  weighing  five  hundred 
pounds  and  eight  feet  in  length,  was  suspended  vertically  by 
a  very  delicate  chain.  Nearby  a  common  bottle  cork  was  sus- 
pended by  a  silk  thread.  The  purpose  was  to  show  that  the 
cork  could  set  the  bar  of  steel  in  motion.  It  seemed  impossi- 
ble. The  cork  was  swung  gently  against  the  steel,  and  the 
bar  remained  motionless.  But  it  was  done  again  and  again 
and  again  for  ten  minutes,  and  lo !  at  the  end  of  that  time  the 
bar  gave  evidence  of  being  uncomfortable ;  a  sort  of  nervous 
chill  ran  over  it.  Ten  minutes  later  and  the  chill  was  fol- 
lowed by  vibrations.  At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  the  bar  was 
swinging  to  and  fro  like  the  pendulum  of  a  clock. 

How  Influence  Spreads. 
Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson  says:  "The  Moravians  providentially 
molded  John  Wesley,  and  the  Holy  Club  of  Lincoln  College, 
Oxford,  touched  by  this  influence,  took  on  a  distinctively 
missionary  character.  Their  motto  had  been  'Holiness  to  the 
Lord';  but  holiness  became  wedded  to  service,  and  evangelism 
became  the  watchword  of  the  Methodists.  Just  then,  in 
America,  and  by  a  strange  coincidence,  Jonathan  Edwards 
was  unconsciously  joining  John  Wesley  in  preparing  the  way 
for  modern  missions.  In  1747,  exactly  300  years  after  the 
United  Brethren  organized  as  followers  of  Huss,  at  Lititz,  in 
Bohemia,  Edwards  sent  forth  his  bugle-blast  from  Northamp- 
ton in  New  England,  calling  God's  people  to  a  visible  union  of 
prayer  for  the  speedy  and  world-wide  effusion  of  the  Spirit. 
That  bugle-blast  found  echo  in  Northampton,  in  old  England, 
and  William  Carey  resolved  to  undertake  to  organize  mission 
effort — with  what  results  we  all  know.  And  just  as  the  French 
revolution  let  hell  loose,  a  new  mist»ionary  society  in   Britain 


222  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

was  leading  the  awakened  church  to  assault  hell  at  its  very- 
gates.  Sound  it  out  and  let  the  whole  earth  hear.  Modern 
missions  came  of  a  symphony  of  prayer,  and  at  the  most 
unlikely  hour  of  modern  history,  God's  intercessors  in  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Saxony  and  America  repaired  the  broken  altar, 
and  called  down  the  heavenly  fire.  That  was  God's  prep- 
aration. 

"The  monthly  concert  made  that  prayer  spirit  widespreading 
and  permanent.  Other  bodies  of  Christians  followed  the  lead 
of  the  humble  Baptists,  who,  in  Widow  Wallis'  parlor  at 
Kettering,  made  their  new  covenant  of  missions ;  and  great 
regiments  began  to  form  and  take  up  the  line  of  march,  until 
before  the  nineteenth  century  was  a  quarter  through  its 
course  the  whole  church  was  joining  the  missionary  army. 
And  so  it  came  to  pass  that,  as  a  little  while  before,  even 
clerical  essayists,  like  Sydney  Smith,  could  sneer  at  the  'conse- 
crated cobblers'  and  try  to  rout  them  from  their  nest;  that 
which  had  been  the  motto  of  the  despised  few  became  the 
rallying  cry  of  the  whole  church  of  God." 

John  Wesley's  Influence. 
Wesley's  life  was  the  logical  outcome  of  his  principles,  and 
is  one  of  the  greatest  gifts  yet  made  by  God  to  the  church 
universal.  His  example  furnishes  a  most  powerful  incentive 
to  all.  The  more  it  is  examined  the  more  it  shines.  By  as 
much  as  it  comes  nearer  to  our  own  times  than  that  of  those 
who  flourished  in  the  early  centuries  it  can  speak  more  directly 
to  our  hearts.  We  cannot  do  as  much  as  he,  but  we  may  do  as 
well,  may  make  our  lives  equally  successful  in  the  highest 
sense  of  that  word.  We  may  be  as  faithful  to  the  grace  given, 
and  meet  as  fully  the  requirements  of  the  Lord.  We  may 
show  the  same  spirit,  pursue  the  same  purpose,  and  reach  the 
same  "well  done"  at  last;  for  equal  faithfulness  to  duty  brings 
equal  praise  from  the  Most  High,  in  spite  of  very  unequal 
results  due  to  unequal  advantages. 

Whether  we  climb,  whether  we  plod. 

Space  for  one  task  the  scant  years  lend, 
To  choose  some  path  that  leads  to  God, 
And  keep  it  to  the  end. — Riches  of  Grace. 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  223 


Two  Thousandfold. 


A  farmer  in  Japan,  having  become  a  Christian,  at  once 
began  to  tell  his  friends  what  a  glorious  thing  it  was.  They 
only  laughed  at  him,  and  grew  tired  of  hearing  constantly  of 
this  new  religion,  so  at  last  he  hit  upon  a  plan  of  arresting 
their  attention.  He  planted  a  number  of  grains  of  rice,  one 
grain  in  each  spot,  then  carefully  manured  and  hoed  half  of 
them,  leaving  the  other  half  to  get  on  as  best  they  could  among 
the  growing  weeds.  He  had  read  the  parables  of  Matthew  13, 
and  believed  the  best  way  to  get  at  farmers'  hearts  was  through 
their  farm  work.  In  due  time  the  grains  came  up.  Those 
carefully  tended  did  splendidly,  while  the  neglected  ones  were 
killed  out  by  the  weeds.  The  next  summer  he  demonstrated 
what  one  grain  of  rice  well  cared  for  would  do.  He  planted 
it  in  a  pot  placed  on  his  verandah,  and  when  it  grew,  hung 
verses  of  scripture  on  it  for  the  passing  farmers  to  read,  about 
the  grain  that  bears  sixty  to  one  hundredfold,  drawing  atten- 
tion in  this  way  to  Christ's  teachings.  This  bunch  of  rice 
that  sprang  from  a  single  grain  had  forty-three  stalks,  and 
over  two  thousand  seeds.  The  seeds  of  Christian  truth  will 
yield  the  best  crop  in  the  world.  The  Savior  modestly  said 
"a  hundredfold,"  but  once  in  a  while  there  comes  one  so 
skillful  in  sowing  and  tending  the  seed  that  you  can  write  at 
the  end  of  the  harvest  **two  thousandfold." — /.  H.  Forrest,  D.  D. 

A  Child's  Influence. 

A  nobleman  whom  the  missionary  had  vainly  tried  to  lead  to 
Christ,  sent  his  only  son  to  the  Christian  Boys'  High  School. 
A  year  or  two  later,  in  an  epidemic  of  cholera,  the  boy  died. 
The  missionary  gently  told  the  stricken  parents  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,  who  sometimes  took  a  lamb  in  his  arms  to  induce 
the  sheep  to  follow  him.  Deeply  moved,  the  father  sketched 
an  outline  of  the  incident  and  bade  an  artist  paint  it.  He 
showed  us  the  picture;  a  shepherd,  with  a  face  kindly  and 
sweet,  carrying  a  lamb  in  his  bosom,  while  afar  ofif  two  sheep, 
which  had  been  walking  away,  were  turning  with  wistful  eyes 
to  follow  their  loved  one.  "Now,"  said  the  nobleman,  *T  want 
to  give  ten  thousand  ticals  to  build  a  church  in  recognition 


224  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

of  God's  dealings  with  me  through  my  boy."  And  we  said,  "It 
is  as  true  now  as  of  old  that  a  'little  child  shall  lead  them.'  " 

A  Fruitful  Seed. 

A  lady  in  the  town  of  L ,  in  the  northern  part  of  New 

Hampshire,  who  had  been  a  lover  of  the  follies  and  frivolities 
of  fashionable  life,  was  taken  very  ill.  She  feared  she  was 
about  to  die  and  confided  her  anxieties  to  a  friend  who  was 
with  her,  and  sought  her  help  and  her  prayers. 

"Don't  talk  to  me,"  replied  her  friend,  "I  am  not  a  Christian ; 
I  can  do  nothing  for  you;"  but  she  advised  her  to  send  for  a 
Christian  lady  who  might  perhaps  do  her  good. 

The  lady  came,  but  for  some  reason  did  not  succeed  in 
ministering  comfort  and  leading  her  into  the  way  of  peace. 
Then  another  Christian  woman  was  called  in,  and  she  con- 
versed with  her  faithfully,  but  she  found  no  relief  from  the 
burden  of  sin  and  sorrow  which  oppressed  her.  At  length 
her  visitor  said: 

"I  have  a  little  tract  which  I  think  will  do  you  good."  She 
went  and  got  the  tract,  and  from  the  reading  of  that  tract 
the  sick  woman  was  helped  into  the  paths  of  peace  and  rest. 

The  good  news  spread  about  the  neighborhood.  Curiosity 
was  awakened,  and  that  little  tract  which  had  been  so  blessed 
to  the  sick  woman,  went  into  as  many  as  twenty-five  families, 
there  to  be  read  by  others,  and  to  turn  their  thoughts  to 
Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God,  the  sinner's  friend.  The  story  of 
this  tract  was  told  by  the  veteran  tract  distributor  and  Bible 
colporter,  Deacon  George  W.  Brown,  of  New  Hampshire,  who, 
during  some  forty  years,  traversed  every  part  of  that  state, 
traveling  every  road  in  New  Hampshire  and  scattering  the 
Word  of  Life  among  the  people. 

"What  was  the  name  of  the  tract?"  we  inquired. 

He  could  not  tell,  but  promised  to  ascertain.  We  saw  him 
a  few  weeks  later  when  preaching  in  Concord,  New  Hampshire, 
and  inquired  of  him  the  name  of  the  tract  which  had  been  so 
blessed.     He  said  it  was  "My  Friend." 

This  was  not  the  first  nor  yet  the  last  instance  in  which  that 
tract  was  blessed  to  the  salvation  of  sinners.  Many  thousand 
copies    have    been    scattered    during    the    last    thirty    years; 


INFLUENCE— EXAMPLE  225 

a  few  have  been  heard  from;  of  most  no  tidings  have 
come  back.  But  we  trust  that  many  thousands  more  will  be 
scattered,  and  we  hope  some  of  them  will  be  heard  from  in 
the  great  harvest  day,  when  those  that  sow  in  tears  shall 
reap  in  joy. 

The  brother  who  told  us  this  story  has  finished  his  course, 
has  distributed  his  last  tract,  has  made  his  last  offering  to  aid 
others  in  this  work,  and  now  rests  from  his  labors,  but  his 
works  do  follow  him;  and  we  trust  that  in  the  glorious  king- 
dom of  our  God  it  will  be  found  that  many  souls  will  be  gath- 
ered and  garnered  as  the  fruit  of  the  good  seed  which  he  has 
sown  on  good  ground,  and  which  will  bring  forth  thirty,  sixty 
and  an  hundred  fold. — The  Christian. 

Spiritually  Melodious  Lives. 

The  casting  of  a  musical  bell  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  and 
scientific  of  mechanical  undertakings.  Only  long  and  capable 
experience  can  assure  that  the  bell  shall  have  one  main  note 
which  is  supported  by  only  such  other  notes  as  shall  be  in  har- 
mony with  it ;  this  alone  can  produce  a  musical  bell,  and  when- 
ever there  are  notes  present  which  have  no  harmonic  relation 
to  the  main  note,  an  inharmonious  sound  is  the  natural  result. 
Anybody  can  cast  bells,  but  it  is  only  a  few  adepts  who  can 
produce  with  certainty,  bells  of  a  musical  character. 

The  note  of  a  bell  is  determined,  of  course,  by  its  size  and 
quantity  of  metal,  and  the  contour  of  the  bell  decides  the 
quality  of  the  note.  If  the  bell  be  rapped  at  its  top  bend,  it 
ought  to  give  the  octave  above  the  chief  or  "consonant"  note. 
Now  a  chord  of  perfect  harmony — a  "common  chord" — is  com- 
posed of  the  third,  fifth  and  octave  sounding  together  with  the 
dominant  note.  If  a  bell  is  properly  cast,  on  striking  it  at  a 
place  an  eighth  of  its  height  from  its  brim,  the  third  note, 
or  tierce,  ought  to  be  heard,  and  when  struck  at  three-quarters 
of  its  height  from  its  brim,  that  is,  a  quarter  of  its  height  from 
the  shoulder  or  its  uppermost  bend,  the  quint,  or  fifth  note, 
should  be  apparent.  If  either  of  these  intervening  notes  is 
too  sharp  or  too  fiat,  the  bell  is  a  bad  bell ;  and  when  such 
a  bell  comes  from  the  casting,  the  founders  attempt  to  tune 
it  by  clipping  or  filing  away  the  metal  from  that  part  of  the 


226  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST  *• 

bell  which  gives  off  these  notes,  to  flatten  them,  and  reducing 
the  rim  of  the  bell  has  the  effect  of  sharpening  the  note.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  a  bell  so  treated  can  never 
have  the  satisfactory  sound  which  it  would  have  had  if  it  had 
left  the  mold  in  tune. 

It  is  so  seldom  that  a  peal  of  bells  is  a  "virgin"  peal,  that  is, 
that  every  member  of  the  peal  is  a  "maiden,"  so  perfectly 
in  tune  from  the  mold  that  it  needs  no  tuning,  that  one  of 
the  bell  authorities  in  England,  in  his  correspondence  with  me, 
said  that  if  the  German  makers  succeeded  in  producing  fifteen 
bells  of  this  nature,  they  ought  to  have  a  world-wide  repu- 
tation. We  rejoice  to  say  that  our  fifteen  bells  are  as  they 
left  their  molds,  and  are  the  admiration  of  all  metal  men ; 
not  an  unevenness  or  flaw  appears  on  any  of  their  surfaces,  and 
they  are  in  tune. — The  Churchman. 


SERVICE  NINE—Sunday  Afternoon 

A  PFhole  Life  for  Christ 
(Young  People's  Rally) 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  IX 

My  son,  give  me  thine  heart. — Prov.  2^:26. 

Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth. 
— Eccles.  12:1. 

Kept  by  the  power  of  God. — i  Peter  1:5. 

Flee  also  youthful  lusts. — 2  Tim.  2:22. 

Put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God. — Eph.  6:11. 

Wilt  thou  not  from  this  time  cry  unto  me,  My  father, 
thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth? — Jer.  j.-^. 

There  is  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother, 
— Prov.   18:24. 

The  name   of  the   Lord   is   a   strong   tower. — Prov. 
18:10. 

Thou  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in  the  grace  that 
is  in  Christ  Jesus. — 2  Tim.  2:1. 

Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith. — i  Tim.  6: 12. 

He  is  able. — 2  Tim.  1:12. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 


My  son,  give  me  thine  heart. — Prov.  23 :26. 

1.  Life  a  perilous  pathway. 

2.  Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life. 

3.  Only  the  God-kept  heart  is  safe. 

4.  Let  God  keep  it. 

Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth. — Eccles. 
12:1. 

1.  They  are  days  of  peculiar  danger. 

2.  Of  character-formation. 

3.  Days  that  determine  destiny. 

4.  Of  special  need  of  God's  guidance. 

Kept  by  the  power  of  God. — 1  Peter  1 :5. 

1.  Kept  from  sin. 

2.  Kept  for  Christ. 

3.  Kept  for  heaven. 

Flee  also  youthful  lusts.— 2  Tim.  2:22. 

1.  Youth  a  time  of  rampant  desire. 

2.  A  time  for  special  vigilance. 

3.  Vigilance  in  youth  saves  from  regret  in  age. 

4.  Flee  from  lusts  to  Christ. 

Put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God. — Eph.  6:11. 

1.  Life  a  warfare;  foes  within  and  without. 

2.  God  provides  armor;  defensive  and  offensive. 

3.  Use  it  all. 

Wilt  thou  not  from  this  time  cry  unto  me,  My  father,  thou 
art  the  guide  of  my  youth. — Jer.  3:4. 

1.  A  difficult  journey.     (Climbing  the  Alps.) 

2.  Competent     guidance     proferred.      (Skilled     Alpine 

guides.) 

3.  The  wisdom  of  acceptance.  (A  venturesome  climber 

was  recently  lost  because  he  refused  to  employ  a 
guide.) 


232  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

There  is  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother. — Prov 
18:24. 

1.  Life's  greatest  boon,  a  true  friend. 

2.  The  privilege  of  Christ's   friendship. 

3.  The   condition. 

The  name  of  the  Lord  is  a  strong  tower.— Prov.  18:10. 

1.  In  times  of  temptation. 

2.  In  times  of  discouragement  and  despair. 

3.  When  the  blood-avenger  pursues. 

4.  When  death  assaults. 

Thou  therefore,   my   son,   be   strong   in   the   grace  that  is   in 
Christ  Jesus. — 2  Tim.  2:1. 

1.  Our  own   insufficiency. 

2.  Christ  is  able  to  keep  from  falling. 

3.  Avail  yourself  of  his  strength. 

Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith.— 1  Tim.  6:12. 

1.  Life  a  battle. 

2.  A  faith-fight. 

3.  A  glorious  fight. 

4.  Enlist  for  the  war. 

He  is  able— 2  Tim.  1 :12. 

1.  Able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  we  ask 

or  think.— Eph.  3:20. 

2.  Able  to  make  all  grace  abound  toward  you. — 2  Cor. 

9:8. 

3.  Able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted. — Heb.  2:18. 

4.  Able  to  keep  you  from  falling. — ^Jude  24. 

5.  Able  to  save  to  the  uttermost. — Heb.  7:25. 

6.  Able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him 

against  that  day. — II  Tim.  1 :12. 

7.  Able  even  to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself. — Phil. 

3:21. 

8.  Believe  ye  that  I  am  able?— Matt.  9:28,  29. 


SUGGESTIONS 

Enlist  the  interest  and  influence  of  your  Sunday  school 
teachers  in  behalf  of  this  young  people's  rally. 

Have  good  music  and  brief  prayers  and  a  Bible  reading, 
the  whole  service  kept  within  an  hour. 

Give  the  most  earnest,  pointed,  interesting,  prayer-steeped 
talk  of  which  you  are  capable,  or  secure  some  other  good 
speaker,  who  will  enter  into  your  plan  with  intelligent,  conse- 
crated sympathy. 

Hold  up  the  picture  of  a  whole  life,  from  youth  to  old  age, 
given  over  to  Christ's  control,  and  portray  its  splendid  possi- 
bilities. Appeal  to  the  heroic  side  of  life.  Cite  the  case  of 
"Coley"   Pattison. 

Seek  to  realize  keenly  that  the  young  people  are  "the  key 
to  the  whole  situation,"  and  give  them  your  best. 

Make  a  definite  and  pointed  plea  for  a  whole-hearted 
acceptance  of  Christ. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

The  unsaved  are  most  responsive  to  the  truth  between 
the  ages  of  eight  (or  earlier)  and  fifteen.  Sincerity  is  more 
natural  and  aspiration  more  ardent  at  twelve  than  at  twenty- 
five.  God's  period  for  conversion  is  infancy  or  early  child- 
hood. There  never  ought  to  be  a  moment  in  the  life  of  a 
human  being  in  which  God  does  not  dwell  vitally  as  Redeemer 
and  Sanctifier  in  the  soul. 

It  is  a  fact  not  to  be  forgotten  that  human  beings  are  influ- 
enced easily  and  profoundly  by  those  who  are  of  equal  age. 
Companionship  is  possible  between  those  whose  ages  are  far 
apart,  but  all  such  companionship  is  exceptional,  and  it  is  the 
order  of  the  world  that  one  shall  find  his  closest  comrades 
and  dearest  friends  among  those  whose  years  are  approxi- 
mately equal.  Parents,  to  be  sure,  influence  their  children, 
teachers  their  pupils,  aged  saints  young  men  and  maidens,  but 
the  influence  of  a  boy  or  girl  over  those  associated  with  hira 
or  her  in  work  or  play  is  one  of  the  mightiest  of  the  control- 
ing  forces  of  this  world.  Parents  send  their  boys  to  school, 
says  Emerson,  but  it  is  the  boys  he  meets  in  the  street  who 
educate  him. — Charles  E.  Jefferson,  D.  D. 

How  enormously  important  are  these  first  conversations  of 
childhood!  I  felt  it  this  morning  with  a  sort  of  religious 
terror.  Innocence  and  childhood  are  sacred.  The  sower 
who  casts  in  the  seed,  the  father  or  mother  casting  in  the 
fruitful  word,  are  accomplishing  a  pontifical  act,  and  ought  to 
perform  it  with  a  religious  awe,  with  prayer  and  gravity,  for 
they  are  laboring  at  the  kingdom  of  God.  All  seed-sowing 
is  a  mysterious  thing,  whether  the  seed  fall  into  the  earth 
or  into  souls.  Man  is  a  husbandman,  his  whole  work,  rightly 
understood,  is  to  develop  life,  to  sow  it  everywhere.  Such  is 
the  mission  of  humanity;  and  of  this  divine  mission  the  great 
instrument  is  speech.  We  forget  too  often  that  language  is 
both  a  seed-sowing  and  a  revelation.  The  influence  of  a  word 
in  season — is  it  not  incalculable?    What  a  mystery  is  speech! 


A  WHOLE   LIFE   FOR   CHRIST  235 

But  we  are  blind  to  it  because  we  are  carnal  and  earthly. 
We  see  the  stones  and  the  trees  by  the  road,  the  furniture  of 
our  houses — all  that  is  palpable  and  material.  We  have  no 
eyes  for  the  invisible  phalanxes  of  ideas  which  people  the  air 
and  hover  incessantly  around  each  one  of  us. — Henri  Frederic 
Amiel. 

A  living  boy  of  sixteen  can  get  nearer  to  another  living 
boy  of  sixteen  than  can  one  who  is  as  wise  as  the  wisest 
saint  whose  dust  lies  in  Westminster  Abbey.  A  wide-awake 
girl  can  get  closer  to  another  girl  of  her  own  age  than  can 
any   mother   in    Israel,   however   sweet   and   holy. 

What  an  opportunity,  then,  for  every  young  Christian  who 
wishes  to  do  original  and  effective  work  for  Christ!  He  can 
approach  souls  which  are  inaccessible  to  the  wisest  of  the 
sages  and  the  holiest  of  the  saints.  The  limited  measure  of  his 
experience  fits  him  to  be  a  minister  to  those  whose  experience 
has  similar  limitations,  and  his  very  ignorance  helps  him  to 
pass  through  doors  which  remain  locked  to  those  who  carry 
huge  bunches  of  the  keys  of  knowledge. — Talks  on  High  Themes. 

The  Germans  have  this  telling  axiom :  "Whatever  you 
would  weave  into  the  life  of  the  nation,  you  must  put  into  the 
public  schools."  With  equal  significance  and  wisdom  it  may 
be  affirmed,  whatever  you  would  weave  into  the  life  of  the 
church,  you  must  put  into  the  young  people  from  whose  ranks 
the  future  church  is  to  be   formed. 

It  will  be  well  for  the  young  to  note  how  important  a  part 
they  are  to  take  in  that  church  of  the  future,  God  sparing  their 
lives  to  do  so,  and  the  necessity  of  making  suitable  preparation 
for  the  responsibilities  that  will  one  day  fall  upon  them,  when 
they  in  their  turn  become  instructors  of  others  and  molders 
of  a  future  for  those  who  shall  come  after  them.  No  amount 
of  faithfulness  or  lack  of  it  on  the  part  of  teachers 
can  alter  the  pupil's  accountability  in  this  matter.  As  they 
avail  themselves  of  today's  great  privileges  or  as  they  treat 
them  with  calm  indifference,  so  will  they  prove  faithful  or  be 
found  wanting  when  life's  sterner  duties  confront  them. — 
Tenney. 


236  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

Procrastination  is  not  only  the  "thief  of  time,"  but  likewise 
the  arch  thief  of  souls.  Doubtless  there  are  thousands,  aye, 
hundreds  of  thousands,  who  have  been  lost  because  they 
delayed  the  day  of  their  decision  to  accept  Christ.  "Hell 
is  paved  with  good  intentions,"  and  the  best  intention  ever 
formed  is  the  intention  of  entering  upon  a  Christian  life;  yet 
how  few  put  such  an  intention  into  execution !  How  many 
make  up  their  minds  to  surrender  to  God's  will  during  the 
week  of  prayer,  yet  fail  to  do  so  because  their  time  is  tomor- 
row, and  tomorrow  never  comes. — Douglas. 

It  is  a  thought  to  make  the  heart  sing  that  no  matter  how 
inexperienced  and  obscure  one  is,  there  is  some  one  in  the 
world  whom  it  is  easier  for  him  to  reach  with  the  everlasting 
gospel  than  it  is  for  anybody  else.  It  is  a  solemnizing  thought 
that  there  are  things  which  a  boy  can  do  which  a  man  cannot 
do  so  easily  or  so  well,  and  that  certain  work,  if  left  undone 
under  twenty,  can  never  be  done  in  this  world  at  all.  The 
fact  to  be  remembered  is  that  young  Christians  have  their 
work  just  as  older  Christians  have  theirs,  and  that  the  work 
of  boys  and  girls,  young  men  and  maidens,  is  just  as  impor- 
tant in  its  place  for  the  upbuilding  of  this  world  as  is  the  work 
of  adults  to  which  the  Lord  God  has  called  them. — Charles  E. 
Jefferson,  D.  D. 

Prof.  James  Lewis  Howe,  of  Kentucky,  sends  this  pledge, 
prepared  by  Rev.  D.  T.  Fiske,  D.  D.,  and  signed  by  the  young 
people  converted  in  his  church,  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  during 
a  revival  of  religious  interest.  It  will  be  found  suggestive  and 
helpful.     Such  forms  of  confession  are  frequently  useful : 

"Convinced  that  I  am  a  sinner,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and  that  he  is  able  and  willing 
to  save  all  who  come  to  him,  I  do  now  come  penitently  con- 
fessing my  sins,  and  do  give  myself  up  unreservedly  to  him 
to  be  his  wholly  and  forever,  and  I  do  take  him  to  be  my 
Savior,  and  do  trust  in  him,  and  in  him  alone,  for  pardon  and 
salvation;  and  I  do  solemnly  promise  him  that,  with  the  aid 
of  his  Spirit,  I  will  lead  a  Christian  life,  forsaking  and  avoiding 
all  known  sin,  and  conscientiously  doing  what  I  believe  to  be 
his  will  in  all  things.     Especially  do  I  promise  that  I  will  daily 


A   WHOLE  LIFE   FOR   CHRIST  237 

pray  and  read  the  Bible  and  whenever  practicable  will  attend 
religious  meeting's;  and  will  endeavor  to  do  good  as  I  have 
opportunity;  and   will   aim   to   cultivate  and  always   manifest 

an  humble,  kind,  forgiving  spirit." — The  Congregationalist. 

This  superb  quality  of  youth  lays  upon  its  possessors  the 
gravest  responsibility,  as  well  as  the  richest  joy  of  life. 
Physiologists  know  that  muscle  once  made  is  made  to  the  end 
of  a  man's  days;  the  octogenarian  who  was  an  athlete  at 
twenty  is  powerful  still ;  for  he  would  have  died  early  had 
he  abused  his  physique.  The  young  and  masterful  nation, 
once  trained  to  full  vigor,  will  be  vigorous  always,  provided  it 
does  not  abuse  its  strength.  It  cannot  abuse  its  strength  if 
its  young  men  are  true  to  themselves  and  to  the  opportunities 
offered  by  an  incomparably  splendid  age  like  ours.  Emerson 
said  "Knowledge  is  the  antidote  of  fear."  We  must  know 
ourselves.  We  must  trust  ourselves,  our  government,  our 
destiny ;  anything  short  of  this  is  not  patriotism ;  it  is  cow- 
ardice. 

The  only  safety  for  a  man  or  a  nation  is  courage  in  consci- 
entious action  doAvn  the  whole  line  of  duty,  and  there  can  be 
no  sense  of  national  duty  without  enthusiastic  patriotism  and 
perfect  confidence  in  national  integrity.  We  grow  like  what 
we  contemplate ;  our  political,  social,  moral  and  physical 
condition  will  be  the  result  of  aspiration  realized  through 
that  chemistry  which  supremely  refines  or  hopelessly  debases 
life  and  its  significance  in  the  individual  or  in  the  people. 
The  moment  we  begin  to  doubt  the  sufficiency  or  the  integrity 
of  our  form  of  government,  or  the  righteousness  of  its  aspira- 
tions, we  should  feel  our  pulse  and  count  its  beats ;  for  youth 
fnever'  doubts ;  health  never  suggests  failure.  Keep  the 
blood  pure,  the  nerves  healthy,  the  muscles  vitalized,  then 
you  are  a  perfect  unit  of  power;  then  you  are  always  young; 
then  you  rely  upon  yourself,  trust  your  country,  and  believe 
in  the  honor  and  efficacy  of  its  government.  Virile  men 
make  and  maintain  a  virile  civilization. — Men. 

The  words  of  a  dying  man  carry  tremendous  weight.  In 
a  court  of  law,  the  testimony  of  one  who  is  dying  is  estimated 
of  ^reat  importance.    It   is  acknowledged  that   a  man   under 


238  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

those  conditions  does  not  trifle,  nor  speak  unmeaning  words, 
nor  care  for  those  things  which  make  for  merely  worldly  honor 
and  applause.  He  is  believed  to  view  things  in  the  light  of 
the  eternal  world  upon  whose  threshold  he  stands.  It  is 
believed  of  him  then,  that  he  is  terribly  in  earnest. 

How  many  times  has  it  happened  that  a  father's  last  words 
or  a  mother's  last  request  has  engraved  itself  indelibly  upon 
human  hearts  and  changed  the  whole  tenor  of  life. 

A  young  man  said : 

"Three  words  still  ring  in  my  ears.  They  were  my  father's 
dying  message — 'Live  for  eternity!  Nothing  else  is  worth 
while.     Live  for  eternity !'  " 

David  was  an  intense  lover  of  Israel.  He  was  about  to 
pass  over  to  his  son  Solomon  the  kingdom  which  had  been 
chief  in  his  thought,  and  for  which  he  had  fought  and  suffered. 

To  Solomon  was  coming  this  grave  responsibility,  this  great 
opportunity. 

Well  for  him,  had  he  been  like  that  Polish  prince  who 
was  accustomed  to  carry  the  picture  of  his  father  always  in 
his  bosom,  and  on  occasion  of  temptation  used  to  take  it  out 
and  gaze  at  it,  saying: 

"Let  me  do  nothing  unbecoming  so  excellent  a  father !" 

Well  for  the  young  people  of  our  great  church  if  they 
resolve  to  do  nothing  that  can  in  any  way  dishonor  the  men 
who  had  the  wisdom  to  plan,  and  the  courage  and  faith  to 
labor  in  the  face  of  overwhelming  difficulties  in  order  that  this 
kingdom  might  be  ours. — Epworth  Herald. 

The  average  young  man  is  not  so  firmly  rooted  in  holy 
things  that  he  can  afford  to  do  without  the  common  means 
of  grace.  It  is  an  affectation  for  him  to  say  ihat  he  can  be  as 
good  without  the  church  as  with  it.  He  needs  the  church,  and 
if  amusement  tends  to  alienate  him  from  its  ministrations,  then 
it  is  his  duty  to  fight  amusement  at  that  point.  Happy  the 
young  man  who  has  such  self-control  and  such  high  regard 
for  things  that  are  high  that  no  amusement,  whether  indoor 
or  outdoor,  shall  be  allowed  to  rob  his  soul  of  its  rightful 
food.  By  the  substance  of  religion  we  mean,  of  course,  the 
fear  of  God,  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  and  the  living  of  a  pure, 


A  WHOLE  LIFE   FOR  CHRIST  239 

upright,  honorable  life.  A  young  man  may  preserve  all  these, 
and  have  his  amusements.  It  is  a  noble  sight,  that  of  a 
young  man  giving  play  to  the  joyous  side  of  his  nature,  and 
yet  true  as  steel  to  the  higher  ideal  of  life.  But  no  doubt 
there  are  dangers  which  threaten  the  essence  of  character. 
In  the  ancient  arena  there  were  gladiators  that  bore  the  name 
retiarii.  In  one  hand  they  carried  a  net,  in  the  other  a  sword, 
and  their  endeavor  was  first  to  enmesh  their  antagonist,  and 
then  with  the  sword  given  him  the  coup-dc-grace.  There  are 
three  retiarii  that  stand  in  close  contiguity  to  the  amusements 
of  young  men,  and  these  are  drinking,  gambling,  licentious- 
ness. They  first  entangle  and  then  smite.  By  appealing  to 
good  fellowship,  and  by  utilizing  the  excitement  of  the  game, 
they  endeavor  to  draw  men  into  their  toils,  and  once  involved, 
how  hard  to  save  the  soul  from  death !  This,  then,  is  the 
battle,  and  a  serious  one  it  is — not  to  kill  amusements,  but  to 
control  them,  to  make  them  our  servants,  to  use  them  for  the 
brightening  and  strengthening  of  our  lives,  and  not  for  the 
impairment  of  their  energies ;  in  short,  to  stand  halfway 
between  the  monk  that  renounces  all  amusement  and  the  fool 
that  goes  open-mouthed  and  uncontrolled  into  every  sphere 
that  has  pleasure  written  above  its  portals. — The  Young  Man. 

The  young  man  who  is  indifferent  to  his  spiritual  welfare 
will  find  himself  going  down  hill.  Slowly  at  first,  but  faster 
and  faster  until  at  last  nothing  will  save  him.  If  you  wish 
to  have  a  harvest  of  grain  you  must  sow.  If  you  wish  to 
harvest  tares,  what  must  you  do?  Nothing.  If  some  of  you 
tonight  are  not  concerned  about  your  future  welfare  I  wish 
to  cry  out  and  warn  you  to  stop  ere  it  is  too  late. 

I  believe  the  young  man  who  knows  he  is  wrong  and  still 
says  "tomorrow  will  do"  is  far  from  safe.  Some  one  has  said, 
"Hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions."  Perhaps  some  one  here 
will  have  the  last  opportunity  of  turning  from  the  ways  of 
the  wicked.  Life  is  uncertain.  I  have  known  of  people  who 
sat  in  my  congregation  one  day  and  were  stricken  in  death 
before  the  next  meeting.  No  man  who  goes  out  without 
Christ  is  safe. — Mills. 


240  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler  says,  "My  observation  of  young  people 
has  convinced  me  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  those  who 
fail  in  life  fail  from  want  of  courage.  They  either  had  not 
the  pluck  to  climb  a  steep  hill  of  difficulty  or  they  had  not  the 
moral  nerve  to  face  a  sneer,  or  resist  a  sinful  fashion,  nor  had 
they  the  stamina  to  stand  up  boldly  for  the  right." 

This  is  emphatically  true  in  the  Christian  warfare.  It 
is  not  enough  to  wear  the  uniform  of  religion  or  observe  the 
ceremonies  of  the  church.  We  will  be  victorious  only  because 
we  are  men  and  women  of  God.  In  the  Christian  warfare 
everything  depends  upon  the  human  personality  linked  to  the 
divine. 

Bishop  Keener  startled  the  whole  church  twenty  years  ago 
by  pointing  to  the  two  processions  to  be  seen  on  any  Sunday 
morning,  a  procession  of  adults  going  to  church  and  a  proces- 
sion of  children  coming  from  the  church  at  the  hour  of  preach- 
ing service.  Nor  has  the  latter  procession  ceased  to  move 
from  the  preaching  service,  to  the  church's  great  loss — often 
hopeless  loss. 

While  eighty  per  cent  of  our  church  membership  comes 
from  the  Sunday  school,  there  are  sixty  per  cent  of  the  Sunday 
school  that  are  not  reached.  The  churches  that  have  the  most 
dependable  growth  are  those  that  pay  most  attention  to  gath- 
ering and  retaining  their  youth  under  competent  instruction, 
and  that  have  the  largest  number  of  Sunday  school  scholar^ 
as  compared  to  church  members. — Bishop's  Address,  ipio. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The   Awakening   of   Soul. 

When  England  was  in  a  fever  of  excitement  over  the  struggle 
for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  Sir 
Thomas  Fowell  Buxton  was  the  leader  of  the  measure  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  had  been  a  self-willed  and  sluggish 
boy,  until  some  girl  friends  stirred  his  ambition;  and  he  went 
to  Cambridge  and  pursued  his  studies  with  energy  and  indus- 
try, chiefly  that  he  might  carry  to  them  the  prizes  which  he 
won.  But  one  of  them  touched  a  deeper  chord  in  his  nature 
and  stirred  in  him  a  desire  to  use  his  talents  for  the  good  of 
his  fellow-men,  and  interested  him  in  the  movement  for  emanci- 
pation. After  she  was  dead,  there  came  the  decisive  hour,  the 
day  when  the  question  was  to  be  pressed  to  a  vote  in  Parlia- 
ment. Timid  friends  besought  him  not  to  force  the  issue, 
said  that  he  had  done  his  duty  in  exposing  the  evil  and  appeal- 
ing for  relief,  and  urged  him  to  be  content  with  the  promise 
of  the  Cabinet  that  the  matter  of  emancipation  would  be  seri- 
ously  considered. 

Beset  by  friends  and  menaced  by  political  foes,  Sir  Thomas 
swept  his  glance  along  the  gallery  till  his  eyes  rested  on  the 
sweet  and  earnest  face  of  his  brave  daughter,  who  was  praying 
that  God  would  strengthen  his  heart  and  his  hand  in  that  crit- 
ical hour,  and  then  his  eyes  were  lowered  to  look  at  the  open 
Bible  that  lay  always  on  his  desk,  open  at  the  sentence  that  had 
cheered  him  on  in  that  difficult  contest,  "Be  not  afrai'd  nor 
dismayed  by  reason  of  this  great  multitude;  for  the  battle  is  not 
yours,  but  God's."  And  he  called  for  a  division;  the  measure 
was  passed;  and  the  faith  and  courage  and  pure  ambition  to 
serve  mankind,  which  one  young  girl  had  awakened,  had  their 
victory  and  reward. 

Thus  must  the  sluggish,  self-indulgent  youths  of  our  church 
be  waked  to  high  and  holy  aspiration. — W.  H.  Marquess,  D.  I>. 


242  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

A  Little  Child  Shall  Lead  Them. 

The  pastor's  little  daughter  was  eleven  years  old,  and  desired  to 
join  the  church.  The  pastor  hesitated  and  finally  decided  to  have 
her  wait  until  another  quarterly  communion  service.  She  obeyed 
without  a  murmur,  but  when  the  next  communion  service 
approached,  she  again  referred  to  it;  and,  seeing  hih:  hesitate, 
said  the  following: 

"Papa,  do  you  not'  tell  the  grown  people  that  the  communian 
helps  them  to  be  better?" 

"Why,  yes,  daughter." 

"And,  papa,  do  you  not  think  I  need  that  help?"  It  was  a 
clincher — and  all  the  doubts  of  the  father  vanished  at  once;  she 
was  received  into  the  church  and  has  been  a  consistent  Christian 
many  years. 

Wanted — Courageous  Recruits. 

During  the  campaigns  of  Napoleon  it  was  most  necessary 
that  a  certain  pass  should  be  kept  and  the  Austrians  held  in 
check  for  twenty-four  hours.  A  battery  commanded  the 
entrance  to  the  pass;  one  by  one  the  men  behind  the  guns 
in  the  battery  fell,  but  still  the  fiery  fusillade  continued,  and 
the  pass  was  held  for  twenty-four  hours.  At  length  a  signal 
appeared  about  the  battery,  which  said,  "We  will  now  surren- 
der if  you  will  permit  us  to  go  forth  with  our  guns."  The 
firing  ceased,  and  the  garrison  marched  forth — it  consisted  of 
one  man,  a  brave  grenadier.  The  Austrians  expressed  great 
surprise  that  one  man  had  so  long  held  the  pass  alone.  For 
hours  he  had  himself  manned  those  guns.  When  Napoleon 
heard  it  he  sent  for  the  bold  grenadier  and  offered  him  any 
promotion  he  wished.  His  reply  was :  "Sire,  I  want  to  remain 
a  simple  grenadier  and  your  faithful  servant."  A  few  weeks 
later  in  another  engagement  the  faithful  soldier  was  mortally 
wounded  and  shortly  died.  Napoleon  gave  the  order  that  the 
name  of  the  faithful  grenadier  should  never  be  removed  from 
the  muster  roll,  and,  that,  when  the  name  of  D'Auverque  was 
called,  some  one  from  the  ranks  should  step  out  and  respond, 
"Dead  on  the  field  of  honor!  Faithful  unto  life,  faithful  unto 
death !  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord !" 


A  WHOLE   LIFE   FOR   CHRIST  243 

Making  and  Marring  Character. 
There  is  an  account  of  two  girls,  one  of  whom  read  all  about 
the  wicked  and  licentious  court  of  Louis  XVI ;  her  cousin 
read  all  about  Joan  of  Arc,  her  noble  doings  and  life.  The 
first,  after  a  time,  fell  and  became  an  abandoned  woman ;  the 
second,  one  of  the  noblest  women  of  America,  foremost  in  good 
works. 

Keeping  Life's  Page  Clean. 

The  old  palimpsests  were  manuscripts  from  which  the  first 
writings  had  been  erased  in  order  to  use  them  again  for  fresh 
writing.  But  no  palimpsest  was  ever  so  thoroughly  erased 
that  some  of  the  old  characters  did  not  show  up  in  the  lapse 
of  time,  or  under  certain  treatments  or  conditions.  So  it  is 
with  human  souls.  What  is  first  written  on  them  by  habit 
and  will  may  be  wiped  out  and  replaced  by  better  things.  But 
the  boys  or  girls  who  allow  their  earliest  years  to  contain  evil 
and  forbidden  words  and  records  must  expect  a  hard  fight 
to  erase  them,  and  an  appearance  of  the  old  evil  now  and  then 
when  least  expected.  How  much  better  to  keep  a  clean  page 
that  needs  no  rewriting. — Forzvard. 

No  Effort  to  Save. 

"A  number  of  years  ago,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "when  my 
home  was  on  the  bank  of  the  Hudson  river,  I  sat  one  Monday 
morning  in  my  study.  Suddenly  the  door  bell  rang  with  that 
sharp,  quick  sound  which  calls  for  immediate  response.  I 
opened  the  door.  There  was  a  woman,  a  member  of  my 
church.  Her  face  was  pale  as  death.  She  was  trembling  from 
head  to  foot.  She  told  me  they  had  taken  the  body  of  a  boy 
out  of  the  river  just  across  the  road  from  my  home.  I  hast- 
ened to  the  place.  There  was  the  little  form  upon  the  grass. 
No  effort  was  being  made  to  save  him.  I  took  the  body  in  my 
hands,  and  with  the  help  of  those  who  stood  by  tried  to 
encourage  respiration.  My  fingers  became  numb.  It  seemed 
to  me  I  must  let  go.  But  I  dared  not,  for  perhaps  something 
I  might  do  would  help  to  save  the  precious  life.  After  a  while 
the  doctor  came  to  give  his  skill  to  the  task,  and  just  behind 
him  was  the  father  of  the  boy.  I  shall  never  forget  how  he 
cried,  'O  doctor !  for  God's  sake,  can't  you  save  him  ?'      But  it 


244  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

-^ 
was  too  late.  The  spark  of  life  was  gone.  They  told  me  I 
must  bear  these  tidings  of  death  to  the  mother  of  the  boy. 
I  never  had  a  task  from  which  I  shrank  more.  As  I 
walked  up  the  street  I  wondered  what  I  could  say  to  make  the 
burden  of  grief  easier  to  bear.  God  spared  me  the  pain  of 
making  the  first  announcement  of  her  sorrow.  But,  oh,  that 
bitterness  of  heart!  I  can  see  her  now  as  she  wrung  her  hands 
and  sobbed,  'My  boy  is  dead!  My  boy  is  dead!'  We  do  not 
condemn  the  mother  for  her  grief,  nor  do  we  think  it  strange 
that  the  father's  heart  should  be  broken.  But  here  is  some- 
thing that  is  strange, — you  and  I  come  in  contact  day  after 
day  with  souls  that  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  and  we 
make  no  effort  to  bring  them  into  fellowship  with  him  who  can 
speak  the  word  of  life." 

Making  Our  Life  Choice. 

One  of  the  greatest  lives  of  early  England  was  that  of  King 
Alfred,  whose  life-purpose  led  him  to  plan  out  the  hours  of 
every  day.  "The  story  of  Alfred's  invention  of  candles  to 
measure  the  time  is  well  known.  It  is  not  so  well  known  that 
his  desire  to  measure  time  correctly  came  from  a  religious 
motive.  His  determination  was  to  give  to  God  half  his  time, 
day  and  night."  We  need  to  think  out  the  governing  purpose 
of  our  life,  and  then  to  plan  each  day  accordingly. 

Fighting  Life's  Battles  to  Heaven's  Music. 
When  Frederick  the  Great  was  leading  his  band  against  the 
Austrians  in  Teuftan,  he  heard  the  grand  battle  song  of  the 
Reformation  rise  from  ten  thousand  throats.  It  was  Luther's 
hymn.  Frederick  asked,  "What  is  that  noise?"  "Oh,"  said 
one  of  his  staff,  "it  is  the  soldiers  singing  Luther's  hymn." 
"That  is  all  right,"  was  the  reply,  "plenty  of  psalm  if  they 
will  only  fight."  No  psalm  without  the  fighting,  but  plenty 
of  psalm  if  we  will  fight.  Those  men  who  sang  the  psalms 
could  fight,  too,  and  the  Austrians  were  scattered  as  chaff  before 
the  wind.  They  were  like  Cromwell's  Ironsides.  The  men 
who  sang  the  psalms  could  wield  the  sword,  as  did  our  Cove- 
nanters, who  were  men  that  made  the  hills  echo  with  their 
psalm  of  trust  in  God,  and  who  shed  their  blood  on  the 
heather  sod. 


A  WHOLE  LIFE  FOR  CHRIST  245 

Which  Path  to  Choose. 

An  aged  man  was  standing  at  a  window.  Already  he  had 
passed  sixty  of  the  stages  which  lead  to  the  tomb,  and  he  had 
brought  from  his  journey  nothing  but  errors  and  remorse. 

The  days  of  his  youth  rose  up  in  a  vision  before  him,  and 
he  recalled  the  solemn  moment  when  his  father  had  placed  him 
at  the  entrance  of  two  roads — one  leading  into  a  peaceful, 
sunny  land,  covered  with  a  fertile  harvest,  and  resounding  with 
soft,  sweet  songs;  the  other  leading  the  wanderer  into  a  deep, 
dark  cave,  whence  there  was  no  issue. 

He  looked  toward  the  sky,  and  cried  out  in  his  agony,  "O 
youth,  return!  O  my  father,  place  me  once  more  at  the 
entrance  to  life,  that  I  may  choose  the  better  way!"  But  his 
father  and  the  days  of  his  youth  had  both  passed  away.  He 
saw  wandering  lights  floating  away  over  dark  marshes,  and 
then  disappear.  These  were  the  days  of  his  wasted  life.  He 
saw  a  star  fall  from  heaven,  and  vanish  in  darkness.  This 
was  an  emblem  of  himself. 

The  clock  in  the  high  church  tower  struck  and  the  sound 
falling  on  his  ear  recalled  his  parents'  early  love  for  him,  their 
erring  son;  the  lessons  they  had  taught  him;  the  prayers 
they  had  offered  up  in  his  behalf.  With  one  despairing  effort, 
he  cried  aloud,  "Come  back,  my  early  days,  come  back!" 

And  his  youth  did  return;  for  all  this  was  but  a  dream 
which  visited  his  slumbers  on  New  Year's  night.  He  was  still 
young;  his  faults  alone  were  real.  He  thanked  God  fervently 
that  time  was  still  his  own,  that  he  had  not  yet  entered  the 
deep,  dark  cavern,  but  that  he  was  free  to  tread  the  road  lead- 
ing to  the  peaceful  land  where  sunny  harvests  wave. 

You  who  still  linger  on  the  threshold  of  life  doubting  which 
path  to  choose,  remember  that,  when  years  are  passed,  and 
your  feet  stumble  on  the  dark  mountain,  you  will  cry  bitterly, 
but  cry  in  vain,  "O  youth,  return!  Oh,  give  me  back  my  early 
days." — Jecm  Paul  Richter. 

Making  His  Life  Count  For  Christ. 

A  fourteen-year-old  lad  was  working  in  an  iron  mint  in 
Nova  Scotia  when  an  explosion  of  blasting  powder  occurred. 
He  was  picked  up  torn  and  bleeding,  his  eyesight  gone,  and  his 


246  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

legs  broken.  One  day  his  pastor  read  him  a  letter  which  he 
had  received  from  a  missionary  telling  how  much  a  missionary 
vessel  was  needed  to  ply  between  Sydney,  Australia,  and  the 
lonely  mission  fields  in  the  South  Sea  islands.  "Why  don't 
they  build  it?"  asked  the  poor  sufferer.  "There  is  no  money," 
was  the  answer.  The  next  time  the  pastor  came  to  see  him, 
the  lad  was  eager  to  tell  about  a  plan  he  had  thought  of  to 
raise  money  for  the  ship.  "There  are  20,000  Sunday  school 
children  in  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  Cape  Breton  and 
Prince  Edward  Island,"  he  said,  "and  if  every  scholar  had  a  col- 
lection card  enough  money  could  be  raised  to  build  it."  The 
plan  was  referred  to  the  Board  of  Missions  and  approved,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  year  sums  ranging  from  five  cents  to  one  or 
two  dollars  had  been  sent  in  sufficient  number  to  pay  for  the 
"Day  Spring,"  the  first  one  of  the  many  "missionary  ships"  in 
the  southern  seas.  You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  a  wonder- 
ful operation  restored  the  sight  of  this  boy,  and  when  the  boat 
was  launched  he  was  able  to  join  in  the  singing  and  cheering 
of  the  thousands  of  children  who  watched  it  glide  into  the  sea. 

Looking  at  the  King. 

When  the  king  and  queen  of  Italy  visited  Messina  after  the 
terrible  earthquake  and  tidal  wave  had  wrought  destruction, 
they  were  virtually  carried  up  the  pier  in  the  arms  of  their 
subjects.  The  presence  of  the  royal  pair  acted  as  a  general 
inspiration.  Even  the  wounded,  it  is  said,  found  fresh  strength 
when  they  learned  his  majesty  had  come  among  them.  An 
old  man  who  had  been  abandoned  under  a  beam  that  appar- 
ently had  crushed  out  his  life,  revived  for  a  moment  at  the 
shouts  of  greeting  to  the  king.  He  stretched  out  his  hand  and 
raised  his  head  long  enough  to  call  out : 

"Now  I  can  die  happy.  Long  life  to  the  king!"  He  then 
fell  back  and  expired. 

There  is  one  who  came  to  this  earth  twenty  centuries  ago  and 
not  only  showed  us  how  to  live  happy,  but  how  to  die  happy. 
His  was  the  crudest  death-bed  that  any  one  has  ever  been  com- 
pelled to  die  on — the  cross;  yet  he  died  happy.  He  overcame  his 
pain  by  seeing  the  face  of  his  Father  in  heaven. 

If  a  look  into  the  face  of  an  earthly  king  may  cause  one 


A  WHOLE  LIFE  FOR  CHRIST  247 

to  die  happy,  how  much  more  a  look  into  the  face  of  the 
eternal  King.  One  look  in  his  face  will  give  a  triumphant  death. 
— Homiletic  Review. 

The  Easy  Yoke. 

I  had  finished  my  sermon  when  a  good  man  came  to  me  and 
said,  "I  wish  I  had  known  what  you  were  going  to  preach 
about.  I  could  have  told  you  something."  "Well,  my  friend," 
I  said,  "may  I  not  have  it  still?"  "Do  you  know  why  his 
yoke  is  light,  sir?"  "Well,  because  the  good  Lord  helps  us 
to  carry  it,  I  suppose."  "No,  sir,"  he  explained,  shaking  his 
head,  "I  think  I  know  better  than  that.  You  see,  when  I  was 
a  boy  at  home,  I  used  to  drive  the  oxen  in  my  father's  yoke. 
And  the  yoke  was  never  made  to  balance,  sir,  as  you  said." 
(I  had  referred  to  the  Greek  word;  but  how  much  better  it 
was  to  know  the  real  thing.)  "Father's  yoke  was  always 
made  heavier  on  one  side  than  the  other.  Then,  you  see,  we 
would  put  a  weak  bullock  alongside  of  a  strong  bullock,  and 
the  light  end  would  come  on  the  weak  bullock,  because  the 
stronger  one  had  the  heavy  part  on  his  shoulder."  That  is 
why  the  "yoke  is  easy  and  the  burden  is  light";  because  the 
Lord's  yoke  is  made  after  the  same  pattern,  and  the  heavy  end 
is  upon  his  shoulder. — Mark  Guy  Pearse. 

The  Strength  of  Youth. 

I  love  old  things!  Old  violins  with  their  mellow  notes;  old 
pictures  that  have  been  hallowed  by  centuries;  old  men  with 
broad  brains,  manly  brows  and  honored  gray. 

I  like  to  look  into  the  face  of  Moses  as  he  stood  on  Pisgah — 
locks  bleached  in  the  snows  of  the  ages — waiting  to  be  kissed  to 
sleep  by  the  Almighty  and  to  be  buried  by  the  angels.  I  like  to 
think  of  David  as  leaning  upon  his  staff,  as  with  trembling  lip,  he 
said,  "I  have  been  young,  and  now  am  old — yet  have  I  not  seen 
the  righteous   forsaken." 

I  like  to  picture  Daniel  with  the  weight  of  years  upon  his 
shoulders  and  the  mighty  empire  undei  his  feet.  I  like  to  close 
my  eyes  and  dream  of  old  Paul — manacled  hands  and  feet — sit- 
ting in  the  old  dark  dungeon  of  old  Rome — great  old  Rome — 
with  her  seven  old  hills  and  her  old  Tiber.  I  like  to  listen  to 
the    clanking    chains    as    the    hero    writes,    "The    time    of    my 


248  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

departure  is  at  hand— after  this  a  crown — a  crown!"  I  like 
old  things— old  Moses,  old  Daniel,  old  David,  old  Paul.  But 
much  more  do  I  like  young  Moses,  as  with  fiery  eye  of  flaming 
youth  he  dares  stamp  upon  the  crown  of  the  Pharaohs  and  refuse 
to  be  called  the  "son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter."  I  like  young 
David,  as  with  his  sling  and  little  pebble  he  writes  history 
upon  Goliath's  skull!  I  like  young  Daniel,  as  with  head  up 
and  glowing  cheek  he  says,  "Thank  you,  gentlemen,  I  don't 
drink."  I  like  young  Paul,  as  with  the  blood  of  youth  he  flings 
into  the  face  of  mighty  old  Rome,  "I  glory  not  in  kings  but  in 
the  cross  of  Christ,  for  it  is  the  pozver!" 

Youth,  youth,  the  royal,  regal  greatness  of  youth !  It  is  redolent 
with  the  aromatics  of  the  skies!  It  flames  with  the  aurora  of 
the  heaven !  It  has  the  breath  of  the  dew  upon  it ! — E.  E.  Helms, 
Ph.  D. 

What  Religion  Adds  to  Earthly  Life. 

Does  it  pay,  is  the  instinctive  question  of  the  man  of  the 
world  when  a  proposition  is  presented.  The  man  of  the  world 
may  be  challenged  to  deny  an  affirmative  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion put  about  religion.  It  is  wondrous  strange  that  any  should 
fail  to  say  it,  whether  he  is  religious  or  not.  Expert  econo- 
mists tell  us  that  the  cause  of  hard  times  lies  deeper  than  the 
tariff  or  the  currency.  It  is  found  in  waste.  This  will  hardly 
be  denied.  But  where  is  there  such  waste  as  in  our  sins  and 
our  follies?  "An  increase  of  one-tenth  in  demand  is  sufficient 
to  change  adversity  into  prosperity,  but  this  country  spends 
every  year  more  than  one-tenth  of  its  product  in  drink  alone. 
Who  can  measure  what  it  would  mean  to  our  industries  if  the 
billion  dollars  we  thus  squander  each  year  were  spent  for  shoes 
and  food  and  houses?  New  York  has  been  wailing  of  late  over 
the  thousands  of  her  people  who  go  to  bed  hungry,  yet  last 
year  she  spent  at  Coney  Island,  her  great  playground,  forty- 
five  million  dollars,  or  three  times  what  the  nation  paid 
Napoleon  for  Louisiana  and  six  times  what  we  paid  for  Alaska. 
Thus  what  we  waste  in  our  sins  and  our  follies  far  exceeds 
what  we  lack  in  necessities  and  comforts." — Southern  Presbyterian. 


A  WHOLE   LIFE   FOR   CHRIST  249 

Showing  Mercy. 
The  author  of  "A  Colony  of  Mercy,"  describing  the  wonder- 
ful work  in  Bielefeld  in  Germany,  shows  how  the  Silly  Valley 
has  become  the  Happy  Valley,  how  the  "Program  of  Chris- 
tianity" has  been  realized  there,  and  its  Bethel  has  been  a  com- 
forter to  the  unfortunates  that  dwell  therein,  giving  them 
"beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  gar- 
ment of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness."  The  work  is  most 
extraordinary  and  is  due  to  a  wise  and  loving  servant  of  Christ, 
who  works  in  faith,  humbly  depending  on  him. 

Religion  "Pays." 
Alfred  Smith,  a  field  missionary  for  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  met  on  a  steamer  an  Anglo-Indian,  who,  after 
some  conversation,  voluntarily  gave  him  a  check  for  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  for  the  furtherance  of  his  work,  "Now 
understand  me,"  said  the  Englishman,  "I  am  no  churchman, 
and  don't  pretend  to  be.  *  Then  why  did  I  give  the  money  to 
help  along  your  work?  Because  that  work  means  money  to 
me.  Before  you  came  to  India  with  your  missions  and  club 
houses,  life  for  a  business  man  was  not  worth  living.  Now  all 
is  changed.  I  can  go  away  for  weeks  knowing  that  my 
employees  will  behave  themselves  and  protect  my  interests, 
whereas  before,  my  clerks  stole  from  me,  my  foreman  lied  to 
me,  my  workmen  fought  and  quarreled.  And  every  employer 
of  labor  in  India  will  tell  you  the  same  story." — Everybody's 
Magazine. 

The  Gain  of  Godliness. 

Many  people  regard  religion  chiefly  for  its  future  rewards, 
and  as  a  means  of  getting  to  heaven.  Many  Christian  workers 
and  spiritual  advisers  place  disproportionate  emphasis  on 
future  rewards,  neglecting  to  properly  present  the  profit  of 
godliness  in  the  "\i(e  that  now  is."  One  of  the  first  religious 
ideas  that  most  Christian  parents  impress  upon  the  minds  of 
their  children  is  the  necessity  of  "being  good,"  in  order  that 
they  may  "go  to  heaven  when  they  die."  That,  as  a  motive, 
forcibly  appeals  to  the  child  mind  because  the  end  presented 
is  so  readily  appreciated.  And  that  is  the  main  reason  why 
parents  so  generally  make  use  of  the  device,  for  device  it  Is. 


250  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

It  is,  of  course,  not  wholly  without  merit,  but  as  to  a  motive 
for  "being  good,"  and  as  a  stimulus  to  true  godliness,  it  is  very- 
faulty.  The  pity  of  it  is  that  so  many,  throughout  life,  cling 
to  that  idea  as  the  pet  motive  of  their  Christian  endeavor. 
Many  people  never  rise  to  that  higher  conception  and  principle 
of  the  Christian  life  which  loves  and  does  righteousness  for  its 
own  sake.  They  never  reach  the  point  of  doing  right  because 
it  is  right,  nor  of  abhorring  evil  because  it  is  evil,  nor  of  fol- 
lowing Christ  because  he  is  the  Christ  and  because  they  stand 
in  need  of  him  in  the  midst  of  the  years.  The  spring  of  their 
motive  is  found  in  this  one  thing,  *T  want  to  get  to  heaven 
when  I  die." — Herald  and  Presbyter, 


SERVICE   TEN— Sunday  Evening 
The  Faith  That  Saves 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  X 


Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  And  they  said, 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved. — Acts  i6:so,  si- 

What  shall  we  do,  that  we  might  work  the  works  of 
God?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  This 
is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom 
he  hath  sent. — John  6:28,  2Q. 

For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith. — Eph.  2:8. 

That  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God 
hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved. 
— Rom.  io:p. 

That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  bv  faith. — 
Eph.  2:17. 

j  Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the 
/      evidence  of  things  not  seen. — Heb.   ii:i. 

And  many  believed  on  him  there. — John  10:42. 

'    He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life. — 
John  j.-jd. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  And  they  said,  Believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. — Acts  16:30,31. 

1.  Christ's  death  has  already  provided  a  free  salvation 

for  all. 

2.  Faith's  acceptance  of  Christ  brings  salvation  to  the 

sinner. 

3.  Believe  and  be  saved. 

What  shall  we  do,  that  we  might  work  the  works  of  God? 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  This  is  the  work  of  God, 
that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent. — John  6:28,  29. 

1.  Human   pride   asks,   "What   shall   we   do?" 

2.  Divine  mercy  replies,  "All  is  done ;"  "it  is  finished." 

3.  Man's  part  is  humbly  to  believe,  trust  in  the  finished 

work. 

For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith. — Eph.  2:8. 

1.  Grace   provides   salvation. 

2.  Faith  appropriates  salvation. 

3.  Works  witness  to  salvation. 

That  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from 
the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved. — Rom.  10:9. 

1.  Salvation  conditional  upon  confession. 

2.  Upon  loving  trust. 

3.  Faith  confirmed  and  developed  by  confession. 

That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith. — Eph.  3:17, 

1.  Faith  provides  an  entrance  into  the  life  of  Christ. 

2.  Christ  in  the  heart  insures  growth  in  grace. 

3.  Make  your  heart  his  dwelling  place. 

Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen. — Heb.  11:1. 

1.  Faith  a  telescope — it  brings  the  distant  near. 

2.  A  microscope — to  reveal  the  otherwise  unseen. 

3.  A    wireless    telegraph    drawing    messages    from    the 

skies. 


254  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

And  many  believed  on  him  there. — John  10:42. 

1.  Faith  is  confidence  in  a  person. 

2.  Faith  is  a  definite  act  at  a  definite  time. 

3.  Faith  is  an  act  of  the  will. 

He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life. — ^John  3:36. 

1.  Faith  is  dependence  on  Christ. 

2.  This  faith  is  the  condition  of  salvation. 

3.  This  salvation  is  a  present  salvation. 


SUGGESTIONS 

This  mid-series  service  should  be  one  of  the  most  impressive, 
and  productive  of  special  results. 

Use  the  young  people's  meeting,  if  you  have  one  on  Sunday 
evening,  to  reinforce  and  lead  up  to  the  evening  service.  Instruct 
the  leader  or  president  to  bend  the  meeting  in  this  direction. 

If  a  number  have  been  led  to  accept  Christ  during  the  previous 
days,  announce  the  fact  at  the  evening  service  and  in  the  young 
people's  meeting. 

If  you  have  consecrated  singers  available,  get  them  to  sing 
gospel  solos. 

Use  the  cards  freely.  Have  individual  members  watchful 
for  opportunities  before  and  after  the  service  to  speak  "a  word 
in  season." 

Emphasize  the  after  talk  and  invitation ;  if  deemed  best,  hold 
a  brief  after-meeting  in  another  room  if  one  is  available.  Invite 
members  and  others  interested,  to  stay.  Sing,  pray,  call  for 
words  of  invitation  from  members  in  this  after-meeting.  At  its 
close  interview  any  present  who  are  not  members  and  urge  them 
to  a  definite  decision. 

If  qualified  members  are  available,  have  a  different  leader  for 
the  opening  song  and  prayer  service  each  evening. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

The  value  of  faith  is  not  in  itself,  but  is  determined  by  its 
object.  A  drowning  man  may  grasp  at  every  straw  or  stick 
that  comes  in  his  way,  or  may  be  throwing  his  hands  wildh' 
about  in  hopes  of  lighting  on  something  which  may  save  him ; 
but  such  activity  will  do  him  no  good,  because  there  is  noth- 
ing for  his  hands  to  grasp  sufficient  to  bear  him  up.  It  is  of 
no  good  for  a  sinner  to  be  examining  the  character  of  his  faith 
or  the  strength  of  it.  What  is  wanted  is  to  pay  attention  to 
the  object  of  our  faith.  If  our  faith  has  taken  hold  of  the  Son 
of  God  and  his  finished  work,  then  we  know  we  are  saved,  not 
because  of  the  quality  of  the  strength  of  our  faith,  but  because 
it  has  laid  hold  on  that  which  "is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most."— Dr.  Geo.  F.  Pentecost. 

Saving  faJth  is  the  faith  of  a  transaction. — Bushnell. 

Quite  sure  that  the  acceptance  of  Christ,  with  a  full  reliance 
on  him  and  the  confident  appropriation  of  him,  is  the  transi- 
tion step  to  a  life  of  happy  and  prosperous  obedience. — Thomas 
Chalmers. 

The  first  act  of  inward  calling  and  the  first  motion  of  the 
new  man  is  faith,  the  necessity  of  which  is  so  great,  that  it  is 
celebrated  in  Scripture  as  the  bond  of  our  union  with  Christ, 
the  condition  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  fruit  of  election, 
the  beginning  of  sanctification,  and  the  infallible  means  of 
sal  vation . — Pic  te  t. 

When  Christ  saith,  "Come  unto  me,"  he  does  not  say,  First 
love  and  then  come.  No!  Come  to  him  that  you  may  be  made 
to  love  him.  He  does  not  say.  Come  because  you  are  melted 
into  contrition ;  but  that  you  may  be.  Come,  not  because  you 
have  a  deep  conviction  of  sin,  but  that  it  may  be  made  deep. 
Come  to  him  for  everything,  for  help  when  weary,  for  hope 
when  desponding,  for  comfort  in  sorrow." — Dean  Hook. 

There  is  a  famous  rock  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Rangkul,  near 
one  of  the  branches  of  the  upper  Oxus,  known  as  the   Lamp 


THE   FAITH   THAT   SAVES  257 

Rock  of  Central  Asia.  It  is  so-called,  because  from  a  sup- 
posed cave  in  its  side  a  perpetual  light  shines  forth.  The  rod: 
stands  by  itself  about  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  projects  from 
the  mountain-side.  The  natives  have  a  superstitious  dread  of 
the  rock,  and  say  the  light  comes  from  a  diamond  in  the  fore- 
head of  a  demon,  who  guards  his  vast  treasures  stored  in  the 
cave. 

The  Geographical  Magazine  tells  us  that  the  mystery  about  that 
wonderful  light  has  been  solved.  Captain  Younghusband,  trav- 
eler in  Central  Asia,  with  great  difficulty  made  the  ascent  to  the 
cave  not  long  since.  A  false  step  in  some  places  would  have 
meant  certain  death.  He  entered  the  cave  and  saw  the  light, 
which  he  found  to  be  merely  the  unadulterated  light  of  heaven, 
coming  from  the  other  end  of  the  cave.  In  fact,  it  is  no  cave, 
but  a  tunnel  right  through  the  rock.  From  below,  the  fact  cannot 
be  determined  that  the  hole  is  not  a  cave,  and  the  light  striking 
up  against  the  roof  is  all  that  can  be  seen. — Selected. 

In  the  confusion,  the  terror,  the  amazement  of  soul,  the 
deep  distress  which  so  suddenly  seized  the  sin-convicted  soul  of 
the  Philippian  jailer  and  wrested  from  him  the  cry,  "What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved?"  the  apostles'  all  sufficient  reply  was,  "Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

This  is  God's  answer  to  your  soul's  need.  And  you  must 
have  absolute  confidence  in  God's  word — in  what  he  tells  you 
regarding  the  way  of  life. 

As  a  child  your  faith  in  the  words  of  your  parents  was 
unhesitating  and  full.     And  is  God  any  less  worthy? 

When  you  find  out  from  experience  and  God's  word  what 
you  are  and  what  you  need  and  what  God  has  done  to  meet 
that  need — then  in  the  full  assurance  of  God's  truth  and  faith- 
fulness, let  your  soul  rest  therein.  "According  to  your  faith  be 
it  unto  you."  "Yea,  let  God  be  true,  but  every  man,"  yourself 
included,  "a  liar." 

So  no  matter  what  anything  in  you  may  say,  or  what  others 
may  say  or  what  Satan  may  suggest — you  are  to  have  faith  in 
God,  as  against  all  creation. — /.  H.  Campbell. 

A  shoemaker  in  London,  during  the  last  great  cholera  epi- 
demic, printed  on  a  card  and  placed  in  his  window  the  follow- 


258  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ing  words,  "Because  thou  hast  made  the  Lord,  even  the  most  High, 
thy  habitation,  there  shall  no  evil  befall  thee,  neither  shall  any 
plague  come  nigh  thy  dwelling."  The  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  pass- 
ing that  window,  caught  the  promise  and  lived  on  it,  and  displayed 
it  to  his  people  during  all  those  terrible  weeks.  Faithful  to  his 
duty,  he  won  through  the  plague,  and  put  heart  and  courage  and 
life  into  fainting  thousands. 

The  promises  of  God  are  as  a  banner.  They  are  a  symbol  of 
what  God  is.  "Thou  hast  given  a  banner  to  them  that  fear 
thee,  that  it  may  be  displayed  because  of  the  truth."  These 
words  denote  that  the  inspired  writer  of  long  ago  believed  in 
doing  as  the  poor  shoemaker  in  London  did,  namely,  in  flying 
the  flag. 

Flags  are  flown  as  reminders  of  the  freedom,  justice,  protec- 
tion and  beneficent  laws  for  which  our  country  stands.  And 
they  arouse  a  manly  response  in  every  heart.  Individual  men 
everywhere  are  awakened  to  stand  for  what  their  flag  symbol- 
izes. 

Flying  the  flag  of  one's  trust  in  God  is  not  less  efficacious 
now  than  in  former  days.  There  are  lives  ready  to  be  aroused 
to  renewed  loyalty  and  faithfulness  as  the  banner  is  lifted  up. 
— Augsburg  Teacher. 

When  Thomas  de  Quincey  was  a  youth  he  asked  his  mother 
the  meaning  of  the  familiar  phrase,  "to  appropriate  Christ." 
She  replied  that  it  meant  to  trust  in  the  blood  of  Christ.  His 
keen  mind  at  once  went  off  on  a  theological  quest  which  spent 
itself  in  metaphysical  speculations,  and  in  these  the  young 
inquirer  lost  his  way.  It  might  have  been  otherwise  if  the 
appropriating  act  had  been  directed  to  the  person  of  Christ. 
Saving  faith  directs  itself  to  Christ,  and  terminates  in  God. 
It  is  the  hand-clasp  which  is  the  pledge  and  engagement  of  the 
covenant  of  life; — Selected. 

Enthrone  Christ  in  the  faith  of  the  heart,  and  the  ethical 
and  philosophical  phases  of  religion  will  adjust  themselves  to 
the  source  and  center  of  spiritual  life  and  power,  which  is  the 
infinite  and  eternal  God.  Exalt  Christ  to  the  pinnacle  of  power 
to  which  his  divine  nature  assigns  him,  and  you  have  the  essen- 


THE  FAITH   THAT   SAVES  259 

tial  embodiment  of  life  and  power,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. — Selected. 

I  had  a  young  man  in  my  congregation  who  believed  that  he 
was  refusing  and  rejecting  salvation  because  of  some  unsolved 
problems.  One  day  he  determined  to  accept  Christ  as  a  Savior, 
and  afterward  settle  his  intellectual  difficulties.  But,  so  soon 
as  he  had  made  this  decision,  he  found  that  his  doubt  had  van- 
ished. He  thought  that  his  blindness  was  intellectual,  but  his 
heart  turned  Godward,  the  veil  was  done  away.  And  many  a 
soul  has  had  a  like  experience.  A  will  to  believe  clears  the 
mental  vision.  We  see  clearly  when  we  are  ready  to  see. — Dr.  A. 
T.  Pier  son. 

What  is  faith?  "Grasping  Christ  by  the  hand,"  said  a  little 
Irish  boy,  and  he  came  quite  near  the  truth.  Luther  said  it 
was  "a  certain  dark  confidence,"  or  trusting  God  in  the  dark. 
Again,  he  said  it  was  "the  hand  of  the  soul."  There  are  many 
kinds,  as  well  as  many  shades,  of  faith.  On  the  grades  of 
faith,  a  good  illustration  is  given  by  a  father  who  was  amusing 
his  children  with  an  electric  battery.  After  one  or  two  had 
received  an  electric  shock,  they  drew  back  from  the  jar  with 
dread.  Presently  the  father  held  out  the  jar  uncharged  and 
harmless,  and  said,  "If  you  touch  it  now  you  will  feel  nothing. 
Who  will  try?"  The  children  again  drew  back  with  their 
hands  behind  them.  "Don't  you  believe  me?"  said  he.  "Yes, 
sir,"  and  the  hands  were  held  out  to  prove  their  faith,  but 
were  quickly  withdrawn  before  they  reached  the  dangerous 
knob.  One  alone,  a  timid  little  girl,  had  that  kind  of  faith 
which  really  led  her  to  trust  her  father,  and  touched  the  jar. 
The  rest  believed,  but  did  not  have  clear  faith. — E.  W.  Rice,  D.  D. 

That  upon  which  the  Son  of  God  fastened  as  worthy  of 
admiration  was  not  the  centurion's  benevolence,  nor  his  per- 
severance, but  his  faith.  And  so  speaks  the  whole  New  Testa- 
ment, giving  a  special  dignity  to  faith.  By  faith  we  are  jus- 
tified. By  faith  man  removes  mountains  of  difficulty.  As  the 
dJvinest  attribute  in  the  heart  of  God  is  love,  and  the  mightiest, 
because  the  most  human,  principle  in  the  breast  of  man  is 
faith,  love  is  heaven,  faith  is  that  which  appropriates  heaven. 


260  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Faith  is  a  theological  term,  rarely  used  in  other  matters. 
Hence  its  meaning  is  obscured.  But  faith  is  no  strange,  new, 
peculiar  power,  supernaturally  infused  by  Christianity;  but  the 
same  principle  by  which  we  live  from  day  to  day — one  of  the 
commonest  in  our  daily  life. 

We  trust  our  senses;  and  that  though  they  often  deceive  us. 
We  trust  men ;  a  battle  must  often  be  risked  on  the  intelligence 
of  a  spy.  A  merchant  commits  his  ships,  with  all  his  fortunes 
on  board,  to  a  hired  captain,  whose  temptations  are  enormous. 
Without  this  principle  society  could  not  hold  together  for  a 
day.     It  would  be  a  sand-heap. 

Such,  too,  is  religious  faith.  We  trust  on  probabilities ;  and 
this  though  probabilities  often  are  against  us.  We  cannot 
prove  God's  existence.  The  balance  of  probabilities,  scientific- 
ally speaking,  are  nearly  equal  for  a  living  person  or  a  lifeless 
cause.  But  faith  throws  its  own  convictions  into  the  scale,  and 
decides   the   preponderance. 

Faith,  then,  is  that  which,  when  probabilities  are  equal,  ven- 
tures on  God's  side  and  on  the  side  of  right,  on  the  guarantee 
of  a  something  within  which  makes  the  thing  seem  true 
because  loved. — F.  W.  Robertson. 

Our  English  word  "faith,"  coming  as  it  does  from  a  root 
which  indicates  trust,  is  connected  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  verb 
"faegan,"  to  covenant.  Saving  faith  is  the  faith  of  a  trans- 
action. To  believe  on  Christ  is  to  receive  him.  (John  1 :12.) 
The  simplest  form  of  covenanting  is  that  in  which  one  of  the 
contracting  parties  gives  and  the  other  receives.  God  conveys 
Christ  to  us  by  deed  of  gift,  and  faith,  "nakedly  and  alone," 
accepts  him.      I  have  taken  him,  cries  faith ;  he  is  mine. 

Neophytus,  in  the  "Marrow  of  Modern  Divinity,"  asks  Evan- 
gelista,  "But,  sir,  hath  such  an  one  as  I  am  warrant  to  believe 
in  Christ?"  Evangelista  answers,  "I  beseech  you,  consider, 
that  God  the  Father,  as  he  is  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  moved 
with  nothing  but  with  his  free  love  to  mankind  lost,  hath  made 
a  deed  of  gift  and  grant  unto  them  all,  that  whosoever  of  them 
all  shall  believe  in  this  his  Son  shall  not  perish  but  have  eternal 
Wit:'— Selected. 


THE   FAITH   THAT   SAVES  261 

I  believe  we  shall  nowhere  better  see  the  true  relation 
between  God's  gift  of  faith,  and  the  part  which  human  effort 
has  to  play  in  the  attainment  of  it,  than  in  the  narrative  of  the 
cure  wrought  by  our  Lord  upon  a  man  that  had  a  withered 
hand. 

A  withered  hand;  of  what  spiritual  defect  is  this  bodily 
defect  a  type  or  figure?  The  hand  is  the  organ  of  touch.  He, 
therefore,  whose  hand  is  withered,  has  lost  the  sense  of  touch 
in  that  which  is  the  chief  organ  of  the  sense.  Now  consider 
what  impressions  we  gain  from  the  sense  of  touch.  It  is  touch 
which,  more  than  any  other  sense,  convinces  us  of  the  reality 
of  matter.  What  you  see  might  be  merely  a  phantom,  an 
optical  illusion,  a  picture  painted  on  the  retina  of  the  eye,  and 
nothing  more ;  but  if  you  go  up  to  the  thing  you  see,  and 
touch  it,  and  handle  it,  you  become  assured  of  its  existence, 
you  know  that  it  is  substantial.  Now  what  is  faith?  It  may 
be  defined  as  the  faculty  by  which  we  realize  unseen  things — 
such  as  the  being  and  presence  of  God,  the  work  which  our 
Lord  did  for  us,  the  future  judgment,  the  future  recompense 
of  the  righteous,  and  the  like  unseen  things. 

I  say  the  faculty,  not  by  which  we  conceive,  but  by  which 
we  realize  these  things ;  feel  them  to  have  a  body  and  a  sub- 
stance. To  imagine  the  truths  of  religion  is  not  to  believe 
them.  We  may  from  time  to  time  imagine  God  as  he  is  in 
heaven,  surrounded  by  myriads  of  glorious  angels — we  may 
imagine  Christ  looking  down  upon  us  from  God's  right  hand, 
interceding  for  us,  calling  us  to  account  at  the  last  day,  and 
awarding  to  us  our  final  doom ;  but  the  mere  picturing  these 
things  to  ourselves  is  not  the  same  thing  as  believing  them ;  the 
believing  them  is  the  having  such  a  conviction  of  their  reality, 
as  to  live  under  their  influence,  and  to  be  in  some  measure  at 
least  governed  by  them.  In  short,  to  imagine  the  truths  of 
religion  is  like  surveying  things  by  the  eye ;  to  believe  in  the 
truths  of  religion  is  like  grasping  the  same  things  with  the 
hand,  and  thus  proving  them  to  have  substance  and  consist- 
ency. 'I  need  say  no  more  to  show  that  a  withered  hand,  being 
a  hand  without  the  sense  of  touch,  is  a  very  just  and  suitable 


262  THE   PASTOR   HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

emblem  of  the  soul  of  the  natural  man,  which  has  lost  the 
power  of  faith.  For  faith  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the 
faculty  of  spiritual  touch. 

The  patient,  however,  on  whose  story  we  are  founding  these 
remarks,  had  not  lost  the  sense  of  touch  altogether.  It  was 
only  his  right  hand  that  was  withered;  he  could  handle 
things  with  his  left.  And  this  may  usefully  remind  us  of  what 
has  often  been  pointed  out,  that  man  by  nature  is  not  a 
stranger  to  faith  or  to  its  power — that  he  does  exercise  it, 
though  within  a  very  limited  horizon.  Yes,  surely.  Every 
victory  which  man  has  achieved  over  nature  has  been  achieved 
in  the  power  of  faith.  The  husbandman  plows  and  sows  in 
full  persuasion  of  a  harvest — that  persuasion  is  faith. — Selected. 

■■■  You  are  to  believe  that  all  the  sins,  the  sorrows,  the  griefs, 
the  iniquities,  of  you,  A.  B.,  were  laid  upon  him,  that  he  bore 
them  on  the  accursed  tree  and  was  made  a  curse  that  you 
might  inherit  a  blessing,  that  he  tasted  death  in  order  that  you 
might  taste  the  gladness  and  joy  of  life — even  life  forevermore. 
God  asks  you,  A.  B.,  to  so  believe.  Dost  thou  so  believe? 
"According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you."  "Yea,  let  God  be 
true  and  every  man,"  yourself  included,  "a  liar."  in  the  face  of 
every  element  of  doubt  that  would  becloud  your  vision  of  the 
lamb  slain  for  you,  cast  yourself  down  before  him,  saying, 
"Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief"  and  your  spiritual 
morning  will  dawn.  "Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night  but 
joy  cometh  in  the  morning."  Such  a  vision  of  Christ  for  one's 
self  and  not  for  another  or  others  is  variously  named.  It  is 
"looking  to  Jesus." 

"There  is  life  for  a  look  at  the  crucified  One 
There  is  life  at  this  moment  for  thee. 
Then  look,  sinner,  look  unto  him  and  be  saved 
Unto  him  who  was  nailed  to  the  tree." 

On  the  strength  of  your  knowledge  of  what  he  is  and  what 
he  has  done  for  you,  your  whole  soul  goes  out  toward  him 
trustfully,  lovingly,  gratefully,  as  your  God  and  Savior. — God's 
Way  Out. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"I  Did  Not  Know  It  Was  So  Simple." 
"Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
A  man  who  found  Christ  in  one  of  the  city  prisons  said  some 
weeks  after  his  conversion,  "I  never  knew  before  that  it  was 
so  simple,  this  coming  to  Christ,  or  I  should  have  been  a 
Christian  long  ago.  Why,  do  you  know,  I  just  took  that  prom- 
ise that  saved  the  jailer,  'Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'  and 
I  was  saved  right  away." 

It  is  not  strange  that  this  man  is  able  to  tell  the  story  of 
salvation  in  so  simple  a  manner  that  many  are  believing  and 
coming  to  Christ  through  his  testimony  and  work.  There  is  a 
lesson  right  here  for  Christian  workers  in  general.  We  make 
the  way  too  hard.  There  are  too  many  "ifs"  in  the  way,  too 
much  machinery  and  too  many  barriers  built  up,  unthinkingly, 
a  great  many  times,  but  nevertheless  they  are  put  in  the  way 
of  the  one  who  is  seeking  Christ. 

"Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved" 
means  just  what  it  says.     Believing,  then  salvation. 

Let  us  be  careful  that  our  teaching  and  our  work  along  this 
line  is  clear,  plain  and  so  much  to  the  point  that  the  seeker 
will  not  be  misled  or  confused. 

Faith  Vanquished  Doubt. 
A  German  professor  who  had  spent  years  in  compiling  the 
arguments  of  skepticism  was  suddenly  converted.  In  reply  to 
the  question,  "What  led  you  to  change  your  mind  so  quickly?" 
he  stated  that  in  all  his  thoughts  on  religious  subjects  he  had 
never  before  consulted  the  want  of  his  own  heart  for  the  assur- 
ance of  divine  grace  and  communion,  and  that  from  the  moment 
when  he  looked  at  the  matter  from  that  standpoint  he  could 
have  no  doubt  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  son  of  God. 

The  Story  o£  My  Conversion. 

This  little  autobiographical  fragment  from  the  noted  Scotchman, 
Rev.  John  MacNeilL  will  go  straight  home  to  many  a  reader's 
own  experience.      He  says^. 


264  THE   PASTOR   HfS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

I  never  was  bothered  with  self-righteousness.  God  always 
made  me  honest  enough  to  know  the  blackness  of  my  heart, 
and  that  if  my  sin  had  not  hatched  out  the  eggs  were  all 
there.  Fortunately  I  was  a  teetotaler.  Teetotalism  is  not  sal- 
vation, but  it  often  holds  till  Christ  comes.  It  kept  me  from 
setting  myself  on  fire  in  certain  directions  till  grace  came. 

I  was  big  enough  and  old  enough  to  do  what  we  call  in 
Scotland  "join  the  church,"  but  I  knew  I  had  not  the  great 
qualification  for  joining  the  church.  I  knew  my  father  and 
mother  wished  me  to  join,  but  I  was  not  going  to  the  Lord's 
table  simpl}^  to  please  them.  In  my  perplexity  I  wrote  to  my 
minister.  I  put  it  like  this.  There  is  a  text — Acts  16:26-31, 
"And  suddenly  there  was  a  great  earthquake,"  etc.  And  the 
earthquake  produced  a  soulquake.  I  put  that  text  in  my  let- 
ter. I  said,  "Minister,  I  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  all 
about  Jesus,  and  all  the  Bible  says  of  sin  and  salvation  and 
heaven  and  hell.  I  believe  all  about  it,  but  I  don't  feel  one  bit 
the  better.  There  is  something  wrong."  And  I  sent  the  letter 
away. 

Two  or  three  days  afterwards  I  was  just  going  to  throw  up 
the  ticket  office  window  to  sell  the  tickets  for  the  10:30  sugar- 
brokers'  train  at  Glasgow,  when  I  saw  the  postman  coming 
round.  He  gave  me  a  letter,  and  I  saw  the  postmark,  and  I 
knew  my  minister's  handwriting.  I  will  never  forget  reading 
that  letter.  Dear  old  man !  I  helped  bury  him  over  a  year 
ago.     The  letter  read: 

You  will  never  know,  unless  you  should  become  a  minister 
yourself,  how  glad  I  am  to  get  a  frank,  open,  honest  letter 
from  you  about  your  spiritual  condition,  even  although  you  are 
evidently  all  in  the  dark.  I  am  glad  you  have  taken  Acts  16:31 
as  a  challenge  text.  It  says,  "Believe,"  in  your  heart,  of  course, 
as  you  believe  in  your  mother,  your  wife;  for  it  is  faith,  not  a 
proposition  of  Euclid,  but  believe,  have  full  confidence  in,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.  But,  John,  you 
say  you  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  don't  feel  a  bit 
the  better  for  it.  Now,  I  want  to  know  which  I  am  to  believe 
about  you.  Am  I  to  believe  yourself  saying,  "I  don't  feel  a 
bit  the  better,"  or  am  I  to  believe  God  uttering  his  verdict  on 


THE  FAITH   THAT   SAVES  265 

you  in  the  word  that  can  never  lie,  God  saying  that  the  man 
who  believes  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is,  and  shall  be  eternally 
saved? 

I  was  checking  all  God's  word  by  my  feelings,  and  reducing 
all  God's  word,  no  matter  what  it  said,  to  the  level  of  my  feel- 
ings, and  I  did  not  see  that  that  was  no  faith  at  all.  And  the 
minister  clinched  it  when  he  said : 

John,  you  would  quote  the  text  of  Acts  16:31  as  if  it  read, 
"Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  you  will  feel  easier," 
instead  of  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved."  God  says  it.     Never  mind  your  feelings. 

It  was  like  the  lifting  of  a  curtain  for  me,  and  I  saw  the 
whole  spiritual  region  standing  in  an  outline  bold  and  clear. 
No  great  feeling  even  then.  It  was  a  case  of  seeing.  What 
the  eyes  are  to  the  body,  faith  is  to  the  soul.  I  was  saved.  I 
didn't  shout.  Presbyterians  don't  shout.  I  took  a  walk  in 
the  station,  alone,  to  the  far  end  of  the  platform.  I  remember 
that  morning  saying  to  myself,  "Has  the  station  been  white- 
washed?" The  very  dingy  brick  wall,  all  covered  with  smoke 
and  soot  from  the  engines,  looked  whiter.  It  was  not  the 
walls,  it  was  my  mind  that  was  brightened.  Because  now,  in 
the  scriptural  sense,  I  knew  the  Lord  as  mine.  I  came  back 
and  sold  the  tickets,  and  didn't  say  anything,  and  the  next 
morning  I  woke  up,  and  my  heart  was  just  like  a  fire  you  had 
left  burning  over  night,  and  I  was  as  cold  as  could  be.  The 
devil  said,  "It's  all  a  hoax."  But  I  got  grace  to  fight  that  battle. 
The  minister  said  I  was  not  to  consult  my  feelings,  and  I  ral- 
lied myself.  "Has  God's  word  altered  through  the  night?" 
"No."  "Has  Acts  16:31  altered?"  "No."  "Has  the  value  of 
the  blood  of  Jesus  to  blot  out  my  sins  altered?"  "No."  Then 
nothing  has  altered  that  I  am  resting  on,  nothing  but  my  feel- 
ings. And  you  don't  need  to  rest  on  your  feelings.  You  are 
saved  by  trusting  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Faith  Takes   All   From   Christ. 

A  drowning  boy  was  struggling  in   the  water.     On   shore 

stood  his  mother  in  an  agony  of  fright  and  grief.     By  her  side 

stood   a   strong  man   seemingly   indifferent   to   the   boy's   fate. 

Again  and  again  did  the  suffering  mother  appeal  to  him  to  save 


266  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

her  boy.  But  he  made  no  move.  By  and  by.  the  desperate 
struggles  of  the  bo}"  began  to  abate.  He  was  losing  strength. 
Presently  he  arose  to  the  surface,  weak  and  helpless.  At  once 
the  strong  man  leaped  into  the  stream  and  brought  the  boy  in 
safety  to  the  shore.  "Why  did  you  not  save  my  boy  sooner?" 
cried  the  now  grateful  mother.  "Madam,  I  could  not  save 
j'our  boy  so  long  as  he  struggled.  He  would  have  dragged  us 
both  to  certain  death.  But  when  he  grew  weak,  and  ceased  to 
struggle,  then  it  was  easy  to  save  him." 

To  struggle  to  save  ourselves  is  simply  to  hinder  Christ 
from  saving  us.  To  come  to  the  place  of  faith,  we  must  pass 
from  the  place  of  effort  to  the  place  of  accepted  helplessness. 
Our  very  efforts  to  save  ourselves  turn  us  aside  from  that 
attitude  of  helpless  dependence  upon  Christ  which  is  the  one 
attitude  we  need  to  take  in  order  that  he  may  save  us.  It  is 
only  when  we  "cease  from  our  own  works"  and  depend  thus 
helplessly  upon  him  that  we  realize  how  perfectly  able  he  is 
to  save  without  any  aid  from  us. — Ja))u-s  H.  McConkey. 

The  Upward  Look. 
St.  Cuthbert  was  once  in  a  snowstorm  that  drove  his  boat 
on  the  coast  of  Fife.  "The  snow  closes  the  road  along  the 
shore,"  mourned  his  comrades,  "the  storm  bars  our  way  over 
the  sea."  "There  is  still  the  way  of  heaven  that  lies  open," 
said  the  saint. 

A  Tuned  Receiver, 
Marconi's  new  discovery  has  astonished  two  continents.  At 
his  little  station  on  the  coast  of  New^foundland  he  has  received 
wireless  telegraphic  messages  from  Great  Britain,  across  three 
thousand  miles  of  ocean  that  lie  between.  His  discovery  may 
yet  supersede  all  cables,  telephones  and  ordinary  telegraphy  by 
Avire.  It  is  the  greatest  wonder  of  the  new  century — and,  like 
other  wonders,  simple  enough.  His  instrument  sets  in  motion 
certain  waves  in  that  ether  w'hich  pervades  and  surrounds  all 
things.  These  waves,  like  the  ripples  in  a  pond,  spread  in 
ever}^  direction,  and  when  they  reach  any  receiver  far  or  near 
tuned  to  take  them^  they  give  their  message  to  it.  A  receiver 
not  tuned  to  the  proper  pitch,  however,  is  useless;  the  subtle 


THE   FAITH   THAT   SAVES  267! 

ether  waves  pass  it  by  to  give  their  message  elsewhere.  Thus, 
a  hundred  messages  may  reach  a  tuned  receiver  with  absolute 
certainty,  while  one  wrongly  tuned  misses  them  all. 

Like  all  great  physical  facts  in  this  world  of  God's  making, 
this  new  discovery  finds  an  analogy  in  the  realm  of  spiritual 
and  moral  fact.  How  many  souls  assert  that,  to  them,  the 
voice  of  God  is  obscured,  and  his  direct  message  an  unknown 
experience!  The  ?>ible  is  to  them  an  unreal  record.  For  how 
could  Moses  and  Abraham,  J^avid  and  Paul  receive  a  direct 
inspiration?  Answers  to  prayer  they  do  not  believe  in.  They 
have  never  had  any,  nor  does  such  a  thing  seem  possible  to 
their  minds.  Indeed,  they  proclaim  the  impossibility  of  any- 
direct  personal  communications  with  the  Divine  Spirit  so  loudly 
and  emphatically  that  many  weak  Christians  are  led  to  wonder 
whether  there  really  can  be  any  efficacy  in  prayers  or  any  abso- 
lute knowledge  of  God  by  a  human  soul. 

Does  it  not  all  depend  upon  the  receiver?  The  message  is 
there,  whispering  through  all  the  universe.  The  soul  in  tune 
with  the  divine  hears  it,  obeys  it,  records  it.  The  untuned 
soul  misses  it  inevitably — but  does  that  make  it  any  the  less 
real  and  true?  The  fault  is  not  in  the  message,  but  in  the 
receiver.  Once  in  tune,  messages  will  come,  straight  and  clear, 
and  keep  on  coming.  "Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth," 
prayed  the  lad  Samuel  in  that  dark  time  when  no  prophet  had 
risen  in  Israel  for  many  years;  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
to  Samuel,  direct  and  powerful,  at  once.  It  had  only  been 
waiting  for  a  soul  tuned  to  hear  it.  Are  our  souls  in  tune 
today  for  divine  messages?  If  not,  can  we  expect  to  receive 
them? — The  WeUspring. 

A  Slave's  View  of  Faith. 

I  once  found  myself  in  company  with  a  party  of  friends  in 
the  gallery  of  a  small  village  church,  listening  to  a  discourse 
from  a  colored  minister.  One  illustration  he  used  was  so  full 
of  quaint  simplicity,  and  at  the  same  time  so  expressive  of  his 
meaning,  that  it  struck  me  forcibly.  He  was  showing  how  a 
sinner  should  accept  the  gospel  offers  of  salvation. 

"Suppose,"  said  he,  "any  of  you  wanted  a  coat,  and  should  go 
to  a  white  gentleman  to  purchase  one.     Well,  he  has  one  that 


268  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

exactly  fits  you,  and  in  all  respects  is  just  what  you  need.  You 
ask  the  price,  but  when  told,  find  you  have  not  enough  money, 
and  you  shake  your  head,  'No,  massa;  I  am  too  poor;  must 
go  without'  and  turn  away.  But  he  says,  'I  know  you  can 
not  pay  me,  and  I  have  concluded  to  give  it  to  you.  Will  you 
have  it?'  What  would  you  do  in  that  case?  Would  you  stop 
to  hem  and  haw,  and  say,  'Oh,  he's  just  laughing  at  me;  he 
don't  mean  it?'  No  such  thing.  There  is  not  one  of  you  who 
would  not  take  the  coat,  and  say,  'Yes,  massa,  and  thank  you, 
too.* 

"Now,  my  dear  friends,  God's  salvation  is  offered  you  as 
freely  as  that;  why  won't  you  take  it  freely?  You  are  lost, 
undone  sinners,  and  feel  that  you  need  a  covering  from  his 
wrath.  If  you  could  keep  his  holy  law  blameless,  you  might 
purchase  it  by  good  works ;  but  you  are  full  of  sin,  and 
that  continually.  Prayers  and  tears  are  worthless.  You  are 
poor,  indeed,  and  if  this  is  all  your  dependence,  I  don't  won- 
der that  you  are  turning  off  in  despair.  But  stop — look  here ! 
God  speaks  now  and  offers  you  the  perfect  robe  of  Christ's 
righteousness,  that  will  cover  all  your  sins,  and  fit  your  wants, 
and  he  says  that  you  may  have  it  'without  money  and  without 
price.'  O  brethren,  my  dear  brethren,  do  take  God's  word  for 
it,  and  thankfully  accept  his  free  gift." 

What  impression  the  words  had  on  the  old  man's  colored 
hearers  I  can  not  tell;  but  as  our  party  left  the  church,  one  of 
the  ladies  remarked  to  another,  "What  a  strange  idea  that  was 
about  the  coat!"  "My  dear  friend,"  was  the  reply,  "it  suited 
my  state  of  mind,  rough  and  unpolished  as  it  was,  better  than 
all  Dr.  — 's  elaborate  and  eloquent  arguments  this  morning.  I 
am  so  glad  that  I  came  here.  How  simple!  How  plain!  Free 
grace  alone!    Yes,  I  will  take  God  at  his  word — 

'Nothing  in  my  hand  I  bring. 

Simply  to  thy  cross  I  cling.'" 

Anchored. 

A  Chicago  firm  of  engineers  planned  for  a  large  department 
store  for  Pittsburg.  The  problems  presented  were  peculiar.  The 
river  at  Pittsburg  rises  so  high  as  to  flood  the  basements  of 
all  the  stores  and  make  them  useless  for  stock  or  the  sale  of 


THE   FAITH   THAT   SAVES  269 

merchandise.  The  plan  for  this  building  contemplated  the 
construction  under  the  great  store  of  an  immense  basin  of 
water-proof  construction,  from  high-water  line  to  a  depth  of 
thirty  feet.  This  it  was  felt  would  solve  all  the  difficulties. 
But  when  the  buoyancy  of  such  a  basin  was  computed  it  was 
found  that  at  high  water  it  would  float  the  building,  merchan- 
dise, machinery,  employees,  and  trades-people.  This  would  con- 
vert the  building  into  a  dangerous  kind  of  boat.  There  was  but 
one  solution  of  the  difficulty.  The  boat  must  be  anchored.  To 
this  end  it  was  planned  to  run  great  cables  down  to  the  solid 
rock  and  so  embed  them  in  the  rock  that  the  building  would  be 
held  under  the  greatest  possible  stress.  Man  is  like  the  build- 
ing, in  a  dangerous  position,  both  for  himself  and  others  unless 
anchored.  Jesus  is  the  sure  rock,  anchored  to  which,  every- 
thing is  secure. 

A  Vision. 

One  girl  who  had  "come  through"  in  a  Wesleyan  revival  after 
being  insensible,  related  that  in  a  swoon  she  thought  herself 
on  an  island,  and  saw  Satan,  in  a  hideous  form,  just  ready  to 
devour  her,  hell  all  around  ready  to  receive  her,  and  herself 
just  ready  to  drop  in.  But  just  as  she  was  dropping  the  Lord 
appeared  between  her  and  the  gulf  and  would  not  let  her  fall. 
Of  course,  this  was  the  vision  of  an  abnormal  mental  state,  but 
nevertheless  it  is  a  picture  of  the  soul  saved  by  Christ — the 
awful  loneliness,  the  danger,  the  rescue,  the  glorious  deliver- 
ance which  Christ  brings. 

Faith's  Assurance. 

On  a  gray  summer  dawn,  between  Dundee  and  St.  Andrew's, 
when  John  Knox  lay  so  extremely  sick  that  few  hope4 
for  his  life.  Master  James  Balfour  willed  him  to  look  to  the 
land,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  it.  He  answer,  "I  know  it 
well,  for  I  see  the  steeple  of  that  place  where  God  first  opened 
my  raouth  in  public  to  his  glory,  and  I  am  fully  persuaded  how 
weak  that  ever  I  now  appear,  I  shall  not  depart  this  life  till  rcif 
tongue  shall  glorify  his  holy  name  in  the  same  pla''^-"  He 
lived  for  more  than  twenty-five  years  after  this. 


270  THE   PASTOR   HI5   OWN   EVANGELIST  • 

Faith's  Consecration. 
Don  Jesus  Pico  had  been  once  taken  prisoner  by  Fremont  in 
California,  and  released  on  parole.  When  he  was  again  cap- 
tured at  the  head  of  the  Californians  he  was  brought  before  a 
court  martial  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  The  soldiers  were 
drawn  upon  a  plaza.  At  the  last  moment  a  lady  in  black  and 
a  group  of  children  came  to  the  room  of  General  Fremont,  the 
windows  of  which  looked  upoa  the  place  of  execution.  It  was 
the  wife  of  Pico,  who  came  to  entreat  the  life  of  her  husband. 
After  listening  to  her,  Fremont  sent  for  Pico.  He  came  in, 
with  the  gray  face  of  a  man  expecting  death,  but  calm  and 
brave  while  feeling  it  so  near.  He  was  a  handsome  man, 
within  a  few  years  of  forty.  Fremont  pointed  through  the 
window  to  the  troops  paraded  in  the  square.  He  knew  why 
they  were  there.  "You  were  about  to  die,"  said  Fremont,  "but 
your  wife  has  saved  you.  Go  and  thank  her."  He  fell  on  his 
knees,  made  on  his  fingers  the  sign  of  the  cross.  "I  was  to 
die,"  he  said  to  Fremont :  "I  had  lost  the  life  God  gave  me : 
you  have  given  me  another  life.  I  devote  my  new  life  to 
you."  He  did  it  faithfully.  He  accompanied  Fremont  on  his 
march  south,  and  remained  with  him  until  he  left  California* — 
The  Youth's  Companion. 

"Did  God  Send  You,  Sir." 

A  gentleman  saw  two  children  before  him  in  the  cars,  a  boy 
and  a  girl.  They  were  traveling  alone,  and  both  looked  tired. 
Toward  noon  the  little  girl  got  up  from  her  seat,  and  presently 
he  saw  her  kneeling  on  the  floor,  with  her  head  bowed  in  the 
cushion.  Was  she  sick?  Did  she  find  this  an  easy  way  to 
sleep?     No,  she  was  praying. 

"What  are  you  doing,  my  little  girl?"  he  asked,  when  she 
got  up. 

"I  was  saying,  'Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven,' "  she  said. 

"And  what  are  you  doing  it  for  now?"  he  asked  again. 

"I'm  so  hungry,"  she  said. 

"We've  been  traveling  two  days,"  said  the  boy,  "and  our 
luncheon  is  all  gone." 


THE   FAITH   THAT   SAVES  271 

The  gentleman  wished  he  had  something  in  his  pocket,  but 
it  was  empty.  At  the  next  stopping  place  he  went  out  himself 
and  bought  something  for  the  children  to  eat. 

When  he  handed  it  to  the  child,  "I  knew  it  would  come,"  she 
said,  looking  up  with  a  blush  of  joy  upon  her  face.  "Did  God 
send  you,  sir?" 

Yes,  God  sent  the  gentleman.  The  child  did  not  see  how  the 
cars  were  to  furnish  the  "daily  bread,"  going  so  fast,  and  no 
pantry.  But  the  Son  of  God  taught  her  to  pray  "Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread,"  and  the  little  girl  believed  it.  She  asked 
him  and  God  well  knows  ever  so  many  ways  to  answer  our 
prayers.     You  see,  he  let  a  kind  gentleman  bring  her  some. 

There  is  a  small  word  in  the  Bible  about  which  some  people 
ask,  "What  does  it  mean?"  The  word  is  faith.  What  is  faith? 
It  is  asking  God,  believing  and  trusting  him.  That  is  what 
the  little  girl  did ;  and  it  is  the  kind  of  asking  which  God  loves, 
and  loves  to  answer. 

Faith  in  Christ. 

There  was  a  woman  who  had  a  reputation  for  simple  faith 
that  had  reached  to  another  woman  who  needed  just  such 
a  faith,  and  who  went  to  see  her.  "Are  you,"  she  asked,  "the 
woman  with  the  great  faith?"  "No,"  was  the  wise  reply,  "I  am 
not  the  woman  with  the  great  faith,  but  I  am  the  woman  with 
the  little  faith  in  a  great  God." — The  Christian  Endeavor  World. 

Faith  Illustrated. 

At  one  time  in  the  Scottish  Highlands  there  was  terrible 
destitution  and  poverty  among  the  people.  There  was  a  distri- 
bution of  a  meal  to  take  place.  Some  old  women  arrived  from 
a  distant  glen.  Not  having  made  application  for  help,  they 
hesitated  to  ask  those  distributing  the  meal  to  let  them  also 
be  partakers  of  the  bounty  provided.  At  last  they  deputed 
one  of  their  number  to  go  forward  and  seek  help  for  them. 
As  she  went  from  them  they  hid  their  faces  in  their  plaids. 
When  she  drew  near  she  could  not  speak,  but  holding  out  her 
bare  arms,  which  were  worn  to  a  skeleton,  she  burst  into 
tears.  That  was  enough.  She  was  helped  at  once.  When 
we  come  believing  and  in  sore  need,  the  need,  like  the  skeleton 
arms  of  the  woman,  appeals  to  our   Lord  and  he  hastens  to 


Zn  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

supply  u?.  Recall  the  stories  of  Jesus  and  those  who  came 
to  him,  and  you  will  find  that  he  was  ever  pleased  with  faith 
and  always  responded  to  it. — ^--iM^.f^Mr^  Tcachrr. 

A  clergAman  \'isiting  the  Great  PAramid  in  EgA-pt  ascended 
the  great  gallen*-.  The  descent  was  along  a  narrow  and  slip- 
pery shelf,  the  only  light  being  a  bit  of  candle  held  by  an 
Arab  guide.  As  they  came  to  a  sharp  comer,  where  the  path 
below  \N*as  lower,  narrower,  more  slipperA*  and  over  a  deep 
chasm,  the  candle  went  out.  The  guide  directed  the  minister 
to  get  on  his  shoulders,  that  he  might  be  carried  thus  over 
the  chasm.  The  minister  said,  "Let  me  rest  one  hand  on  you 
and  the  other  on  the  rock."  "Xo,  you  must  rest  both  on  me," 
was  the  answer.  *"I  will  try  myself,  and  you  shall  help  me." 
"No,  you  lean  all  weight  on  Arab,"  he  continued.  "But  wait 
till  I  ascertain  what  you  are  standing  on."  "No,  you  are  quite 
safe  resting  on  Arab."  Seeing  there  was  no  alternative,  he 
j-ielded,  and  was  carried  safely  over.  Implicit  trust  in  God  is 
never  a  risk. 

A  young  lady  once  came  to  her  pastor  in  perplexity.  **I 
have  always  believed  in  the  New  Testament,"  she  said.  "How 
must  I  believe  differently  in  order  to  become  a  Christian?" 
After  some  counsel,  a  light  broke  over  her  face  and  she 
exclaimed,  'AMiy.  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  believe  as  I  have  always 
believed,  but  begin  to  act  as  if  I  believed  it!"  To  begin  at 
once  to  act  as  if  Christ  were  our  Lord  and  Sa\-ior  and  to 
keep  on  trA*ing  to  do  his  \vi\\  is  the  begiiming  of  salva- 
tion. Professor  Peabody  says  that  the  road  directions  to 
the  heavenly  citA*  are  very  simple,  "Take  the  first  turn  to 
the  right  and  keep  straigrht  on."  But  to  live  beside  the  high- 
way will  do  us  no  good  if  we  never  set  out  on  the  journey. 
The  demand  for  faith  is  not  arbitrary.  "Nothing  venture, 
nothing  have."  But  he  who  invests  his  life  without  reser\-e 
will  reach  a  rich  reward. — Xoycs. 

Trusting  the  Doctor. 

A  doctor  was  once  visiting  a  Christian  patient.  He  had 
himself  long  been  anxious  to  feel  that  he  \\-as  at  peace  with 
God.  The  Spirit  had  conA*inced  him  of  his  sin  and  need, 
and   he   longed   to   find   peace.     On   this   occasion,   addressing 


THE   FAITH   THAT   SAVES  27i 

himself  to  the  sick  one,  he  said,  "I  want  you  to  tell  me  just 
what  it  is — this  believing  and  getting  happiness,  faith  in  Jesus, 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing  that  brings  peace."  His  patient 
replied,  "Doctor,  I  have  felt  that  I  could  do  nothing  in  this 
sickness  of  mine,  and  I  have  put  my  case  into  your  hands. 
I  am  trusting  to  you.  This  is  exactly  what  every  poor  sinner 
must  do  in  the  Lord  Jesus."  A  new  light  broke  upon  the  phy- 
sician's soul.  "Is  that  all?"  he  exclaimed,  "simply  trusting 
in  the  Lord  Jesus?  I  see  it  as  I  never  did  before.  He  has 
done   the   work." 

What  He  Did  Knovi^. 

In  some  meetings  of  the  Salvation  Army  in  Birmingham, 
England,  one  of  the  worst  men  in  that  city  was  converted.  It 
was  not  long  before  some  of  his  former  evil  associates  began 
to  make  fun  of  him,  and  such  a  conversation  as  the  following 
ensued: 

"You  say  you  are  a  Christian ;  who  was  the  father  of 
Jesus  Christ?"     "I  don't  know." 

"Who  was  his  mother?"     "I  don't  know." 

"When  did  he  live?"     "I  don't  know." 

"How  old  was  he  when  he  died?"     "I  don't  know." 

"How  did  he  die?"     "I  don't  know." 

"Well,  you  are  a  pretty  Christian ;  you  don't  know  who  was 
the  father  of  Jesus,  or  who  was  his  mother,  or  when  he  lived, 
or  when  he  died,  or  how  he  died, — what  do  you  know?"  Then 
the  rough,  but  genuine  Christian  man  lifted  his  head  and  look- 
ing those  who  were  taunting  him  in  the  face,  replied,  "I  know 
that  he  saved  me."— A    W.  Dale,  D.  D. 

Trust  in  the  Good  Shepherd. 
A  company  of  hunters  were  eating  their  lunch  up  in  the 
Scotch  highlands  when  one  of  them  spied,  on  the  face  of  a 
great  precipice  opposite,  a  sheep  on  a  narrow  ledge  of  rock. 
He  pointed  it  out  to  the  rest,  and  one  of  the  guides  explained 
that  the  sheep  had  been  tempted  by  the  sight  of  green  grass 
to  jump  down  to  some  ledge  a  foot  or  two  from  the  top 
of  the  cliflF.  Soon,  having  eaten  all  the  grass  there,  and  unable 
to  get  back,  there  was  nothing  else  for  it  to  do  but  scramble 


274  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

down  to  some  lower  ledge ;  there  in  turn  it  would  finish 
what  might  be  there  and  have  to  jump  to  some  ledge  yet 
lower. 

"Now  it  has  got  to  the  last,"  said  he,  looking  through  the 
field  glass  and  seeing  that  below  it  went  the  steep  cliff  without  a 
break  for  two  or  three  hundred  feet. 

"What  will  happen  to  it  now?"  asked  the  others  eagerly. 
"Oh,  now  it  will  be  lost!  The  eagles  will  see  it  and  swoop 
down  upon  it,  and,  maddened  with  fright  and  hunger,  it  will 
leap  over  the  cliff  and  be  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks  below." 

Is  it  not  just  like  that,  that  a  soul  goes  astray?  A  man 
is  tempted  to  partake  of  the  pleasures  that  are  on  the  ledge 
just  a  little  lower  than  the  high  tableland  of  moral  life  on 
which  he  has  lived.  Do  some  of  you  not  know  what  it  means? 
It  is  only  a  little  way  down,  so  you  think,  to  that  show  of 
pleasure  or  seeming  gain,  attractive  as  the  show  of  green 
grass  was  to  the  sheep.  You  expect  to  go  right  back,  but 
it  is  easier  to  go  down  to  the  next  ledge  than  it  is  to  get  back, 
and  so  down  you  go,  like  King  Saul  and  like  the  lost  sheep. 
One  year,  two  years  pass  away,  and  your  heart  becomes 
harder  and  more  indifferent  than  you  thought  possible  for 
you. 

Do  not  despair,  even  though  you  are  on  the  last  ledge,  the 
Good  Shepherd  is  hunting  for  you.  He  has  left  the  ninety 
and  nine  in  the  wilderness  and  has  come  out  over  the  bleak 
mountains  of  sin  seeking  for  you.  If  you  will  heed  his  voice, 
he  will  lift  you  again  to  the  highlands  of  peace  and  joy.  He, 
and  he  alone,  can  save  you. — W.  B.  Gray. 


SERVICE  ELEVEN— Monday  Evenmg 
The  Great  Decision 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XI 

Choose  you  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve. — Josh. 
24:15. 

And  Elijah  came  unto  all  the  people,  and  said,  How 
long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions?  If  the  Lord 
be  God,  follow  him:  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him. 
And  the  people  answered  him  not  a  word. — / 
Kings  i8:2i. 

So  these  nations  feared  the  Lord  and  served  their 
graven  images. — 2  Kings  17:41. 

But  as  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord. 
— ^Josh.  24:15. 

Now  therefore  fear  the  Lord. — Josh.  24:14. 

And  this  is  his  commandment.  That  we  should  believe 
on  the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one 
another,  as  he  gave  us  commandment. — i  John^:2^. 

Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good;  so  shalt  thou  dwell 
in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed. — Ps.  37:3. 
37-3- 

Lord,  I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief. — Mark  9:24, 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Choose  you  this  day  whom  you  will  serve. — Josh.  24:15. 

1.  Christ  urges  salvation  upon  us. 

2.  To  have  him  as  our  Savior  we  must  choose  hira  as 

our  Lord  to  serve. 

3.  Danger  in  delay ;  "this  day." 

And  Elijah  came  unto  all  the  people,  and  said,  How  long  halt 
ye  between  two  opinions?  If  the  Lord  be  God,  follow  him; 
but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him.  And  the  people  answered  him 
not  a  word. — 1  Kings  18:21. 

1.  The   sin  of  spiritual   indecision. 

2.  The    urgent    demand   for   whole-hearted    choice. 

3.  Souls  dead  to  earnest  appeal. 

So  these  nations  feared  the  Lord  and  served  their  graven 
images. — 2  Kings   17:41. 

1.  God  will  have  all  or  nothing.     (Ex.  20:3-6.) 

2.  Men     often    attempt    to    combine     worldliness    and 

religon, 

3.  The  attempt  is  always  futile. 

But  as  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord. — ^Tosh. 
24:15. 

1.  A  noble  resolve. 

2.  A  bold  avowal. 

3.  A  father's   influence  and  example. 

Now,  therefore,  fear  the  Lord. — Josh.  24:14. 

1.  Witness  bearing. 

2.  Soul  winning. 

3.  Zeal  for  God. 

And  this  is  his  commandment,  That  we  should  believe  on 
the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ. — 1  John  3 :23. 

1.  Believing  an  inestimably  great  privilege. 

2.  But  also  a  definite  command. 

3.  Refusal   not   merely  personal  loss,  but  disobedience 

to  God. 


278  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good ;  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land, 
and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed. — Ps.  37:3. 

1.  An  explicit  requirement;  "trust;"  "do  good." 

2.  An  incidental  advantage  pointed  out. 

3.  God  cares  for  those  who  honor  him;  "be  fed." 

Lord,  I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief. — Mark  9:24. 

1.  Glad  response  to  Christ's  invitation. 

2.  Conscious  insufficiency. 

3.  Christ's  help  depended  upon  and  prayed  for. 


SUGGESTIONS 

After  yesterday's  full  program  it  would  be  well  to  make 
this  service  brief,  and  earnest,  and  a  time  for  decision.  Remem- 
ber the  physical  needs  of  your  workers.  Limit  the  service  to 
an  hour. 

The  pastor  must  remember  his  own  strength  limitations 
also  and  hold  force  in  reserve  for  the  demands  of  the  days 
and  nights  to  follow.  The  sermon  of  the  evening  might  be 
made  more  informal;  a  platform  talk,  interspersed  with  several 
of  the  telling  illustrations  given  in  this  section.  Let  the 
sermon  and  service  be  brief,  but  make  every  minute  count. 

Seek  more  and  more  to  concentrate  upon  overcoming  reluc- 
tant, temporizing,  procrastinating  wills. 

Evangelistic  literature,  leaflets  and  booklets  may  be  used 
throughout  this  week  with  telling  efifect.  If  the  services  have 
developed  interest,  many  will  be  in  a  reading  mood,  and  recep- 
tive. 

Offer  to  meet  inquirers  after  the  service. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

"Whosoever  will,  let  him  come."  One  of  the  things  God 
cannot  do  is  to  force  you  against  your  choice  into  surrender. 
Your  surrender  must  be  deliberate.  It  must  be  your  own. 
It  must  be.  God  can  open  the  blind  eye  or  unstop  the  deaf 
ear,  or  paint  a  lily  bell,  or  form  a  dewdrop  or  create  the  trill 
of  the  bird  song,  or  open  the  gates  of  the  morning  without  a 
creak  of  their  hinges,  or  set  an  atom  swinging  in  the  sun- 
shine, with  all  its  rhythm  and  poetry,  as  much  as  is  in  the 
movement  of  a  constellation ;  but  he  can  save  no  man  against 
his  will.  The  will  must  surrender.  And  if  some  of  you  do  not 
mind  God  you  will  have  to  hear  him  say,  "I  wanted  to  save 
you,  but  you  would  not  let  me;  I  wanted  to."  He  said  that 
to  Jerusalem,  remember.  Just  before  he  hung  on  the  nails 
he  said,  "I  would,  but  ye  would  not.  I  wanted  to,  but  you 
said,  'No.'  I  spread  forth  my  hand  to  you,  but  you  would 
not  take  hold  of  it.  I  would  have  lifted  you  to  joys  ineffable, 
but  you  said,  'No.'  I  came  to  deck  your  brow  with  heaven's 
richest  diadem,  but  you  played  the  fool  and  you  just  went 
down  in  the  dirt  and  said,  'I  am  satisfied  with  the  perishable, 
the  earthly.'  I  offered  you  heaven,  but  you  said,  'Earth  is 
good  enough.'  I  offered  you  glory,  but  you  were  satisfied 
with  self.  I  wanted  to  but  you  would  not.  I  tried,  but  you 
said,  'No.'  I  offered  you  my  heart  but  you  refused  it."  Are 
you  going  to  do  this  thing  forever?  If  I  could  settle  this 
matter  for  you  I  would  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  say  so. 
If  these  arms  were  strong  enough  I  would  put  them  around 
this  house  and  I  would  lift  you  all  to  Jesus  Christ.  You 
should  have  no  more  sorrow,  nor  tears,  nor  pain,  nor  disap- 
pointment. I  would  lift  you  right  up  to  the  presence  of  the 
king,  and  say,  "Lord  Jesus,  here  is  one  armful.  Will  you 
give  me  a  little  more  strength  and  let  me  go  down  for  another, 
for  I  think  I  can  find  another?"  But  that  would  not  do  it. 
Every  man  must  come  for  himself;  every  woman  must  come 
for  herself. — Gipsy  Smith. 


THE  GREAT  DECISION  281 

There  is  no  midway  position  in  the  discussion  and  settlement 
of  the  high  questions  which  Christianity  introduces;  there 
is  no  middle  class  between  the  friends  and  the  foes  of  Jesus. 
Neutrality  is  criminality;  indifference  is  treason.  "He  that 
is  not  with  me,  is  against  me." — Rylance. 

The  fate  of  Absalom  points  a  moral  so  clearly  that  he  who 
runs  may  read.  Are  we  in  open  rebellion  against  the  king  of 
kings  or  listening  to  the  honeyed  words  of  his  enemies?  If 
so,  our  overthrow  is  certain.  If  we  are  not  with  God,  his 
Word  declares,  we  are  against  him.  We  cannot  occupy 
neutral  ground.  We  are  called  upon  to  choose  whom  we  will 
serve.  And  if  we  enlist  under  the  Lord's  banner,  even  though 
like  David  we  may  have  been  unworthy  servants,  nothing 
can  prevail  against  us.  The  battle  for  righteousness  is  on 
and  will  continue  until  the  last  enemy  has  been  subdued.  Shall 
we,  heirs  apparent  to  the  kingdom,  as  was  Absalom,  Incite 
rebellion  and  abandon  our  hope  of  inheritance  by  engaging 
in  a  losing  contest,  or  shall  we  serve  the  king  with  gladness? — 
Selected. 

You  are  a  sinner  by  nature. 

The  fact  that  sin  has  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  shows 
that  God  has  created  him  with  the  power  of  deliberate  choice, 
and  that  he  has   abused   that  privilege. 

But  God  in  his  wonderful  love  has  provided  a  salvation  that 
also  depends  upon  choice. 

Moreover,  it  is  a  choice  that  includes  personality.  We  are 
not  asked  merely  to  choose  the  right,  but  to  accept  and  trust  in 
a  person  who  has  proved  himself  in  every  way  to  be  worthy 
our  faith  and  love. 

Choose  ye,  then,  whom  ye  will  serve,  sin  or  Christ.     Oh,  the 
folly  of  stopping  a  moment  in  the  decision ! 
I  realize  my  sin,  and  hear  thy  voice 
Inviting  all  to  make  the  Christ  their  choice; 
I  answer,  "Lord,  I  come,"  and  then  rejoice. — Selected. 

Thousands  of  people  all  over  the  land  are  making  the  wise 
and  happy  choice  of  Jesus  Christ.  Perhaps  quite  as  many  are 
thinking  about  the  subject  of  religion,  and  are  yet  halting.    To 


282  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

this  class  it  may  not  be  impertinent  to  address,  very  frankly 
and  lovingly,  the  question :  What  hinders  you  from  accepting 
Christ?  It  is  very  certain  that  God  does  not;  there  is  no 
"divine  decree,"  either  secret  or  revealed,  that  stands  in  your 
way.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  a  glorious  decree  that  who- 
soever believes  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  saved.  Noth- 
ing in  the  Bible — if  you  read  it  in  its  full  scope  and  with 
honest  eyes — can  hinder  you.  And  if  you  are  determined  to 
break  off  from  your  sins  and  to  obey  Jesus  Christ  it  is  not 
in  the  power  of  any  fellow-mortal  on  earth,  or  of  any  devil 
in  hell,  to  prevent  you  from  becoming  a  Christian.  The  only 
effectual  hindrance  to  any  man's  becoming  a  Christian  lies  in 
his  own  heart.  When  Jesus  knocks  at  the  heart's  door,  and 
asks  admission,  it  is  something  inside  the  heart — not  outside — 
that  locks  the  door  and  keeps  the  Savior  out.  That  some- 
thing may  be  a  flimsy  pretext,  or  a  powerful  lust;  but  every 
real  hindrance  that  keeps  a  sinner  from  accepting  Christ  lies 
in  that  sinner's  own  heart. — Cuyler. 

Decision  of  character  has  ever  been  esteemed  a  valuable 
trait.  It  is  the  strongest  evidence  of  littleness  and  triviality  of 
soul,  to  hang  undecided,  although  all  the  facts  and  truths  on 
which  a  decision  should  be  based  are  fully  before  the  mind. 
This  temper  is  the  sure  occasion  of  disaster.  Indecision  lets 
slip  the  golden  opportunity,  and  forfeits  the  tide  in  the  affairs 
of  men  "which  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune."  Efforts 
weakly  made  in  inconsistent  directions,  neutralize  each  other, 
and  waste  labor.  While  the  double  minded  man  is  hesitating, 
the  man  of  decision  has  viewed  his  ground,  has  formed  his 
plans  and  has  half  accomplished  it.  Without  decision  of  char- 
acter no  man  was  ever  successful  in  any  secular  undertaking, 
except  by  accident,  and  for  a  short  time. 

If  indecision  is  so  disastrous  in  temporal  affairs,  what  must 
be  its  mischiefs  in  the  more  momentous  concerns  of  the  soul? 
Here  its  folly  is  enhanced  by  the  critical  nature  of  the  interest, 
the  plainness  of  the  duty  to  every  clear  mind,  the  vastness 
of  the  stake  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  time. — R.  L.  Dahney,  D.  D. 


THE   GREAT   DECISION  283 

Every  hour's  delay  weakens  the  power  of  conscience.  Every 
hour's  delay  grieves  that  Holy  Spirit  who  is  pleading  with 
you.  The  farmer  who  lets  the  golden  days  of  autumn  slip 
by  without  sowing  his  wheat,  soon  finds  the  soil  turned  to  iron 
under  the  frosts  of  December.  Your  heart  grows  harder 
every  day.  Every  day  you  waste  in  procrastination,  robs  your 
life  of  its  richest,  sweetest  satisfaction,  and  decreases  your 
chance  of  salvation.  It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  the 
chances  of  salvation  diminish  with  a  rapid  ratio  after  the 
plastic  period  of  youth  has  passed. — The  Independent. 

There  are  some  men  who  try  to  excuse  themselves  from 
their  duty  by  saying,  "Well,  I  am  not  a  member  of  the  church." 
Such  a  plea  as  that  adds  to  your  responsibility  instead  of 
removing  it  from  you.  If  you  are  not  a  member  of  the  church 
there  is  just  as  much  obligation  resting  upon  you  to  save 
men  as  there  is  resting  upon  any  church  member  in  this  world. 
In  fact,  I  think  that  the  burden  you  bear  is  a  heavier  one. 
We  who  are  members  of  the  church  have  tried  to  do  something, 
and  you  have  not  tried  to  do  anything,  in  the  Christian  service. 
It  is  just  as  much  your  duty  to  endeavor  to  lead  men  to  God 
as  it  is  the  duty  of  any  minister  or  any  church-member. 
Some  of  us  who  are  in  the  church  have  been  unworthy  and 
have  done  our  work  but  feebly,  but  many  of  us  have  tried  to 
do  something;  and  you  have  not  only  not  tried  to  do  anything, 
but  have  been  unwilling  to  let  your  influence  tell  upon  the 
other  side.  Your  excuse  is  like  that  of  the  son  who  spent  the 
morning  in  idleness  while  his  brother  worked,  and  then  gave 
as  a  reason  for  not  working  in  the  afternoon,  that  he  had  not 
done  his  duty  in  the  morning.  It  would  simply  be  an  added 
reason  why  he  should  work  harder  in  the  afternoon. — Mills. 

Hesitating  and  divided  service  of  God  and  the  world  is  use- 
less and  impracticable.  Such  a  life  is  but  time  and  labor 
thrown  away.  Consider  who  God  is,  how  sovereign,  majestic, 
righteous,  and  how  jealous.  Will  he  accept  a  divided  heart? 
A  heart  divided  with  such  a  rival?  Remember  what  the 
Christian  life  is — a  race,  a  wrestle,  a  labor,  a  warfare.  Can  the 
halting  man  win  the  race?  Can  the  maimed  soul  fight  this 
battle  successfully?    When  the   righteous   scarcely  are   saved. 


284  THE   PASTOR  -HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

with  all  their  zeal,  where  shall  the  hesitating  sinner  appear? 
Because  of  this,  such  a  prize  as  heaven  will  never  be  won 
by  these  feeble  strivings.  But  the  world  is  also  an  exacting 
master,  and  refuses  to  dispense  his  favors  to  any  but  those 
who  give  him  their  whole  heart.  If  this  is  to  be  your  God, 
why  mar  his  service  with  this  abortive  religiousness?  It  is 
but  an  uncompensated  loss  of  those  "pleasures  of  sin  which 
are  but  for  a  season."  It  only  hinders  your  enjoyment  of 
the  world.  It  troubles  you  with  importunate  thoughts  of  the 
future.  And  yet  it  effects  nothing  towards  the  salvation  of 
the  soul.  If,  therefore,  you  will  not  follow  God  in  earnest,  it 
will  be  much  more  rational  to  say  with  the  atheist,  "Let  us 
eat  and  drink,  for  tomorrow  we  die,"  than  to  continue  your 
halting.  It  will  be  better  for  you  to  make  the  utmost  of  your 
sinful  joys,  and  then  for  the  rest  enter  into  covenant  with 
death  and  agreement  with  hell. — The  Homiletic  Review. 

I  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men. 

Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
j  Is  bound  in  shallows,  and  in  miseries. 

On  such  a  full  sea  are  we  now  afloat; 
And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves, 
Or  lose  our  ventures. — Julius  Caesar. 

Man's  belief  can  limit  the  manifestations  of  divine  goodness, 
and  even  prevent  a  work  of  grace  in  an  individual  heart,  or  in 
a  community  at  large.  Christ  could  do  not  many  mighty 
works,  even  in  his  own  country,  because  of  the  unbelief  of  the 
people.  This  matter  of  unbelief  among  the  people  explains  the 
painful  problem  of  many  a  fruitless  ministry,  and  lays  the  axe 
of  blame  at  the  very  root  of  the  tree,  which  should  not 
cumber  the  soil  of  the  soul.  The  utter  barrenness  of  thousands 
of  churches,  many  of  them  strong  in  every  other  way,  is  owing 
to  the  fact  that  they  have  no  faith  in  God,  and  consequently 
no  spiritual  life  or  power.  Of  course,  an  unspiritual  church 
cannot  impart  life  to  a  dead  world.  Where  faith  exists  God 
really  grants  displays  of  his  saving  power,  even  in  a  miracu- 
lous manner.     Ethics  and  philosophy  are  not  sufHcient.    They 


THE  GREAT   DECISION  285 

may    be    substituted    for    Christianity,    but    they    are    not    its 
equivalent  and  never  can  be. — Selected. 

But  man  is  also  free.  He  has  a  will  of  his  own,  and  may 
set  his  will  against  God's  will.  He  became  a  sinner  by  pre- 
ferring sin.  Preference  for  sin  consequently  became  the  trend 
and  bias  of  his  nature.  Ultimate  salvation  therefore  is  in  no 
sense  mechanical,  or  a  taking  of  the  man  from  one  place  to 
another,  but  an  eradication  of  this  "bent  to  sinning,"  and  a 
restoration  of  the  soul  to  harmonious  fellowship  with  God 
in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  The  sinner  is  to  be  saved 
from  his  sins,  not  only  from  guilt,  but  from  the  sinful  affections 
and  desires  which  lead  him  astray  and  soil  and  spoil  his  char- 
acter. This  cannot  be  done, — notwithstanding  all  the  provisions 
of  gospel  grace, — without  man's  consent.  The  man  must  will 
to  be  saved.  He  must  make  deliberate  choice  of  God  and  of 
his  way  of  salvation. 

In  this  aspect  of  the  case  the  human  will  is  supreme,  its 
decision  final.  There  is  no  appeal  from  it.  The  grace  of  God, 
intervening  in  our  fall,  preserved  within  us  and  amid  the  wreck- 
age of  our  lives,  this  God-like  power  of  a  free  choice.  The 
human  will  is  autocratic. — Spreng. 

Possibly  you  seek  to  throw  the  responsibility  of  your  impeni- 
tence on  other  people,  whereas  the  real  reason  why  you  are 
not  a  Christian  is  that  you  are  not  willing  to  become  one. 
There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  your  case.  The  real  hindrance 
with  every  unconverted  person  lies  in  his  or  her  own  heart. 
"Ye  will  not  come  to  me,"  says  the  blessed  Jesus,  "that  ye 
might  have  life."  One  endeavors  to  excuse  himself,  as  you 
do,  by  harping  on  the  inconsistencies  of  church  members. 
Another  is  too  completely  absorbed  in  money-getting  to  give 
any  serious  thought  to  his  soul.  Another  is  enslaved  by 
secret  sensualities.  I  have  known  scores  who  have  been  often 
plead  with  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  who  have  bolted  the  door 
of  their  heart  against  Christ  with  hands  trembling  under 
the  influence  of  the  bottle.  Another  is  afraid  of  the  laugh  of 
irreligious  associates.  Another  one  is  content  to  hang  his 
eternal  welfare  on  the  hope  of  a  universal  salvation  and  denies 


286  THE    PASTOR   HIS    OWN    EVANGELIST 

all  future  retribution.  All  these  hindrances  lie  in  the  hearts 
of  the  unconverted.  God  did  not  put  them  there,  nor  does  he 
do  aught  to  keep  them  there.  They  will  all  vanish  like  morn- 
ing mist  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  the  moment  that  you  and 
others  like  you  determine  to  open  your  hearts  to  Jesus  Christ. 
He  says  to  you,  "Trust  me!" — Cuyler. 

It  will  be  a  happy  day  for  your  home  when  that  decision 
takes  place.  It  will  be  a  blessed  hour  for  your  wife  and 
3^our  children  and  your  mother  and  those  who  love  you.  And 
I  can  believe  that  there  are  some  children  in  some  homes 
in  Brooklyn  who  are  praying  this  afternoon  for  fathers  who 
are  expected  to  be  in  this  service.  I  can  believe  there  are 
mothers  somewhere  in  this  city  or  in  this  state  or  country 
who  know  that  their  sons  are  going  to  be  at  this  service  and 
are  praying  that  this  may  be  the  hour  when  their  prayer  may 
be  answered.  O  God,  let  the  answer  come.  O  men,  don't 
let  another  day  pass  without  that  decision.  If  you  let  this 
mission  close  without  such  a  decision  you  may  not  see  another 
mission  or  look  in  the  face  of  another  missioner.  You  may 
never  hear  another  gospel  appeal.  God  says  now,  "What  are 
you  going  to  do  with  my  Son,  Jesus,  who  died  for  you?  Who 
loved  you  enough  to  die  for  you?  What  are  you  going  to  do 
with  him?" — Gipsy  Smith. 

Our  Lord  did  not  by  a  mere  act  of  his  own  will  restore  the 
impotent  man's  hand — he  bade  the  man  to  do  something. 
And  what  he  bade  him  to  do  sounded  impossible  in  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  patient.  He  told  him  to  stretch 
forth  his  hand, — a  hand  which  was  probably  cramped  together 
and  curved  by  the  complaint, — a  hand  in  which  there  was  no 
muscular  power,  and  over  which  the  brain  had  no  control. 
And  yet  there  was  a  meaning  in  the  command,  and  a  meaning 
which  the  patient  understood.  The  meaning  was  that  he 
should  try  to  act  as  if  the  withered  hand  had  been  sound, — 
try  to  unclinch  those  fast-set  fingers,  to  unroll  that  long-closed 
palm.  Ver}^  probably  the  thought  flashed  like  lightning  across 
the  poor  creature's  mind,  "He  has  healed  hundreds  who 
simply  did  as  he  bade  them.     He  bids  me  do  this ;  and  there- 


THE   GREAT   DECISION  287 

fore  I  must  be  equal  to  doing  this,  or  at  least  he  will  make 
me  equal."  "And  he  stretched  it  forth," — he  made  the  effort 
which  he  had  been  bidden  to  make, — his  will  roused  itself, — his 
brain  issued  once  more  the  order  which  hitherto,  as  regarded 
that  member,  had  produced  no  effect ;  and  he  finds  with  delight 
that  the  order  is  now  obeyed,  the  hand  unrolls  itself,  stretches 
itself  toward  the  Savior,  casts  off  its  old  incapacity,  is  restored 
whole   as   the   other. — Selected. 

"Stop  trying  and  let  Jesus  do  the  work,"  is  excellent  advice. 
Only  it  does  not  go  far  enough.  How  can  Jesus  do  it?  By 
believing  with  all  your  heart  that  he  is  able,  that  he  is  willing, 
that  if  you  let  him  he  doeth  it. 

You  know  he  is  able — able  to  save  to  the  uttermost;  able 
to  keep  from  falling;  yea,  "from  stumbling."  (Jude  24); 
able  to  "succor  the  tempted"  (Heb.  2 :18)  ;  able  to  "make  all 
grace  abound,"  (2  Cor.  9:8).  Indeed  he  is  gloriously  able, 
for  all  power  is  given  unto  him  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

He  is  also  willing.  His  promises  express  his  will  concern- 
ing us.  Read  very  attentively  and  very  frequently,  Ezek. 
36:25-27.     This  is  his  will  concerning  you. — Selected. 

What  are  you  going  to  do  with  Jesus?  That  is  what  I  want 
you  to  think  of.  This  is  the  question  I  have  come  to  ask  you : 
What  are  you  going  to  do  with  Jesus?  Something  you  must 
do.  Something  you  will  do.  Something  you  are  doing,  and 
the  answer  you  give  to  the  question  will  settle  your  character. 
You  will  be  a  good  man  or  a  bad  man,  according  to  the  answer 
you  give  to  that  question.  Your  goodness  as  a  man  depends 
upon  how  you  answer  that  momentous  question,  the  question 
which  throbs  and  pulsates  with  the  interests  of  two  worlds, 
time  and  eternity.  I  repeat  it,  for  I  would  have  you  grip  it. 
Listen !  You  will  be  a  good  man  only  as  you  stand  in  right 
relationship  to  Jesus  Christ.  You  cannot  be  a  good  man  unless 
you  enthrone  him  in  your  heart  and  life.  You  will  be  a  bad 
man,  a  wicked  man,  a  crooked  man,  if  you  treat  Jesus  badly. 
No  man  can  close  his  heart  to  Jesus  Christ  and  remain  a 
good  man,  for  Jesus  Christ  is  the  source  of  all  goodness,  of  all 
purity,  of  all  nobility  and  of  all  true  manhood.     If  you  shut 


288  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Kim  out  of  your  life  you  are  shutting  them  out,  and  the  spring, 
and  the  strength,  and  the  inspiration  of  all  that  helps  you  to 
be  true  to  God. — Gipsy  Smith. 

Moreover,  you  are  sacredly  bound  to  pursue,  at  the  earliest 
hour,  the  most  thorough  inquiry  into  the  claims  of  the  gospel 
and  never  to  rest  until  you  either  ascertain  its  certain  falsity  or 
the  impossibility  of  a  decisive  conclusion.  For,  if  it  is  indeed 
true,  then  you  undoubtedly  owe  it  your  allegiance,  and  he  who 
loves  his  duty  must  desire  to  remove  that  ignorance,  which, 
he  suspects,  obstructs  its  performance.  This  may  be  shown  by 
a  simple  parallel.  You  have  had  a  settlement  of  intricate  trans- 
actions with  your  neighbor.  After  he  has  paid  you  your 
claims  new  evidence  reaches  you,  making  it  probable  that  the 
settlement  has  been  unjust  to  him,  and  that  certain  parts  of 
the  sum  paid  you  are  his  property.  Will  any  man  say  that, 
because  it  is  only  suspected  and  not  certain,  you  may 
retain  the  money  and  refuse  all  inquiry?  He  who  is  capable 
of  this  has  the  heart  of  a  thief.  If  the  suspicion  should  turn  out 
truth,  you  would  be  found  depriving  your  neighbor  of  his 
goods.  The  doubt,  as  soon  as  it  is  awakened,  originates  an 
obligation,  which  every  honest  mind  will  admit,  to  a  new  and 
faithful  inquiry. 

So,  if  there  is  a  suspicion  that  the  gospel  may  have  claims 
upon  you,  you  are  under  obligations  to  a  dispassionate  and 
thorough  inquiry,  in  order  that  if  this  debt  of  faith  and  love 
is  indeed  due,  you  may  pay  for  it  at  once. — Selected. 

Large  faith  gets  large  blessings;  small  faith  receives  but 
small  favors.  We  should  go  to  God  with  great  expectations, 
making  large  requests,  believing  his  promises.  We  should 
never  be  discouraged  by  delays,  by  seeming  repulses,  by  obsta- 
cles and  hindrances.  We  should  fight  our  way  to  victory. 
Wkh  infinite  fullness  in  our  Father's  hand,  we  should  not  live 
in  spiritual  beggary,  as  so  many  of  his  children  do.  He  has 
large  things  for  us,  and  we  should  take  them  from  his  hand. 
This  is  a  wonderful  saying,  "Be  it  done  unto  thee  even  as  thou 
wilt."  The  words  simply  throw  heaven  open  to  our  faith. 
We  can  get— we  do  get — what  we  will.  So  upon  ourselves 
comes    the    responsibility   of   the    less   or   the    more   blessings 


THE   GREAT   DECISION  289 

which  we  receive  from  the  bountiful  God.  If  we  expect  little 
we  shall  get  little.  If  our  expectation  is  great  we  shall  receive 
much.— 7.  R.  Miller,  D.  D. 

Are  pastors  working  diligently,  daily,  persistently  to  bring 
people,  old  and  young,  now  to  decide,  to  begin,  and  to  persist 
in  the  religious  life,  or  are  they  waiting  for  "next  winter?" 
The  policy  of  postponement  silently  adopted  means  a  deal  of 
heresy  in  the  thinker  and  must  result  in  a  deal  of  harm 
to  the  church  and  the  community. 

The  time  for  a  soul  to  be  saved  is  today.  The  time  for 
a  soul  to  be  approached  with  a  view  to  his  salvation  is  today. 
The  time  to  be  talked  about  as  the  fit  time  for  the  persuading 
of  a  soul  to  set  about  the  seeking  of  his  salvation  is  today. 
The  time  for  the  church  to  emphasize  and  insist  upon  the  seek- 
ing of  salvation  by  a  soul  is  today.  We  have  nothing  to  do 
with  tomorrow.  We  do  not  know  that  there  will  be  any 
tomorrow.  And  when  the  church  adopts  the  theory  and  the 
policy  of  the  worldling  and  talks  about  "salvation  tomorrow" 
it  forgets  that  "today,"  that  now  is  the  time  for  salvation. — 
The  Congregationalist. 

Man  born  in  sin  has  his  natural  desires,  impulses,  cravings, 
and  moves  out  along  the  directions  in  which  they  push  or  draw 
him.  He  follows  his  bent,  pursues  his  natural  ambitions, 
yields  to  his  inclinations,  gratifies  his  passions,  indulges  his 
selfish  will,  taking  his  cue  from  his  own  carnal  desires.  So 
doing  he  follows  the  bent  of  a  nature  which  is  corrupt, 
tending  to  evil,  having  in  it  seeds  of  depravity,  capable,  if 
unrestrained  and  unrenewed,  of  baseness  and  wickedness.  And 
he  is  certain,  if  he  follows  the  gravitation  of  his  nature,  to  live 
a  life  pitched  from  the  first  on  a  low  key  and  descending  lower 
and  lower.  But,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  he  is  not  left  to  do 
this,  unadmonished,  unrestrained,  unhelped.  Heaven  proposes 
and  pictures  to  us,  even  demands  of  us,  a  better  life  than  we 
naturally  lead ;  rebukes  our  low  ways ;  tells  us  of  a  nobler 
way;  invites  and  urges  us  to  rise  toward  it.  This  is  what 
the  whole  Bible  is  x'or. — The  Ripening  Experience  of  Life. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

With  Earnest  Purpose. 
An  old  man  once  lost  a  bank  note  in  his  barn.  He  looked 
for  it  several  times,  but  could  not  find  it.  At  last  he  said 
to  himself,  "That  note  certainly  is  in  the  barn  somewhere,  and 
I  will  search  for  it  until  I  find  it."  Accordingly  he  went  to 
work  and  carefully  moved  straw  and  hay,  hour  after  hour, 
till  he  at  last  found  the  note.  A  few  weeks  later  the  old 
man  sat  by  his  fire  musing  over  his  spiritual  state,  for  he  felt 
he  was  not  right  with  God.  Turning  to  his  wife,  he  asked, 
"What  must  I  do  to  become  a  Christian?"  "You  must  seek 
for  it,"  she  replied,  "as  you  sought  for  the  bank  note."  The 
words  made  a  deep  impression  on  him ;  he  followed  their 
advice,  and  ere  long  was  rich  in  spiritual  joy  and  blessing. 

"Since  Now." 

Three  new  pupils  had  been  received  into  the  Argentine 
mission  school.  I  suggested  that  before  beginning  the  Bible 
study  we  spend  a  few  minutes  in  personal  testimony,  intimat- 
ing that  each  should  tell  when  she  had  given  herself  to  Jesus, 
saying  that  I  had  myself  done  so  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 

At  that  word  I  noticed  a  quick  flash  of  intelligence  pass  over 
the  face  of  one  of  the  new  girls,  follow^ed  instantly  by  a 
very  serious  expression  that  continued  until  it  came  her  turn  to 
"take  the  word."     I  asked : 

"Are  you  a  Christian,  Deolinda?" 

There  was  a  doubtful  nod  in  response.     I  varied  the  question. 

"Have  you  given  yourself  to  God?" 

This  was  answered  by  a  decidedly  more  positive  nod, 

"Do  you  realize  that  Jesus  is  your  Savior,  and  that  you  are 
God's  child?" 

All  at  once  the  black  eyes  flashed  with  joy,  the  whole  face 
was  transfigured,  and  the  nod  was  accompanied  by  a  very 
soft,  "Si,  senora."  (Yes,  ma'am.) 

"Since  when?"  I  asked,  my  own  heart  filled  with  gladness. 

"Since  now,"  was  the  unequivocal  testimony,  and  from  that 
hour  she  set  herself  definitely  and  joyfully  to  prepare  for  aj 
lifework   in   his   service. 


THE   GREAT   DECISION  291 

Disuse  of  Function  Means  Decay  of  Faculty. 

John  Burroughs  relates  that  a  number  of  years  ago  a  friend 
in  England  sent  him  a  score  of  skylarks  in  a  cage.  He  gave 
them  their  liberty  in  a  field  near  where  he  lived.  They  drifted 
away,  and  he  never  heard  or  saw  them  again.  But  one  Sunday 
a  Scotchman  from  a  neighboring  city  called  on  him  and 
declared,  with  visible  excitement,  that  on  his  way  along  the  road 
he  had  heard  a  skylark.  He  was  not  dreaming,  he  knew  it 
was  a  skylark,  though  he  had  not  heard  one  since  he  had  left 
the  banks  of  the  Doon,  a  quarter  of  a  century  before.  The 
song  had  given  him  infinitely  more  pleasure  than  it  would 
have  given  to  the  naturalist  himself.  Many  years  ago  some 
skylarks  were  liberated  on  Long  Island,  and  they  became  estab- 
lished there,  and  raay  now  occasionally  be  heard  in  certain 
localities.  One  summer  day  a  lover  of  birds  journeyed  out 
from  the  city  in  order  to  observe  them.  A  lark  was  soaring 
and  singing  in  the  sky  above  him.  An  old  Irishman  came  by 
and  suddenly  stopped  as  if  transfixed  to  the  spot.  A  look 
of  mingled  delight  and  incredulity  came  into  his  face.  Was 
he  indeed  hearing  the  bird  of  his  youth?  He  took  off  his  hat 
and  turned  his  face  skyward,  and  with  moving  lips  and  stream- 
ing eyes  stood  a  long  time  regarding  the  bird.  "Ah,"  thought 
the  student  of  nature,  "if  I  could  only  hear  that  song  as 
he  hears  it  with  his  ears!"  To  the  man  of  science  it  was  only 
a  bird  song  to  be  critically  compared  to  a  score  of  others,  but 
to  the  other  it  brought  back  his  youth  and  all  those  long-gone 
days  on  his  native  hills ! — Our  Dumb  Animals. 

Shrinking  From  the  Ordeal. 
A  woman  said,  "I  would  like  to  be  a  Christian,  but  I  don't 
want  to  do  that  thing."  I  said,  "You  know  as  well  as  I  do 
if  you  came  to  Jesus  and  took  him  as  your  Savior  and  he  said, 
T  want  you  to  do  that  very  thing,'  you  would  say,  'Lord,  I  will 
try  to  do  it,*  would  you  not?"  And  she  said,  "I  believe  I 
would."  Don't  you  see  you  are  allowing  the  devil  to  keep 
you  from  him,  and  stumbling  over  something  that  is  not  essen- 
tial. Settle  the  surrender;  decide  that  you  will  be  his  first,  and 
settle  the  other  questions  afterward.  Say,  "Lord,  I  will  be 
thine."     A  city  girl   said  to   me   the  other  day,   "I  have   six 


292  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

girl  friends  and  I  am  the  leader  of  the  party,  and  if  I  become 
a  Christian,  if  I  am  converted,  shall  I  have  to  give  them  all  up?" 
I  said,  "No;  you  get  converted  properly  and  they  vi^ill  give  you 
up  and  save  you  the  trouble.  They  will  quickly  quit  your 
company.  They  will  either  want  your  religion  or  quit  you." 
She  decided  for  Jesus,  and  before  the  mission  was  over  all  the 
six  friends  had  done  the  same. — Gipsy  Smith. 

Refusing  a  Pardon. 

When  missionary  at  Dorchester,  I  frequently  visited  the 
penitentiary  there.  One  day  an  officer  called  my  attention  to 
a  prisoner  and  related  this  story  of  him :  When  a  young 
man  he  had  been  convicted  of  manslaughter  and  sentenced 
to  life-imprisonment.  After  several  years,  her  majesty.  Queen 
Victoria,  granted  a  pardon.  The  world,  however,  had  lost  its 
attraction,  and  after  a  few  days'  liberty  he  returned  to  prison, 
requesting  to  be  re-admitted.  His  request  was  granted  and 
he  remained  at  Halifax  until  the  Maritime  Penitentiary  was 
built  at  Dorchester,  and  the  long-term  prisoners  removed  there- 
to. When  the  prisoners  were  marched  from  the  depot  to  the 
penitentiary,  all  but  this  man  were  handcuffed  and  strictly 
guarded.  He  followed  the  line  at  a  little  distance,  and  request- 
ed a  place  in  the  new  institution,  where  he  had  been  for  several 
years  when  I  saw  him.  By  the  grace  of  his  sovereign  a  free 
man,  entitled  upon  request  to  a  full  suit  of  civilian's  clothing, 
clad  in  which  the  great  prison  gate  would  open  for  him  as 
readily  as  for  the  warden  himself!  Yet,  so  long  as  he  pre- 
ferred prison  life,  he  must  submit  to  prison  discipline.  He  must 
wear  that  gloomy  prison  garb.  When  the  bell  rang  at  six 
o'clock  he  must  fall  into  line  with  the  others,  be  satisfied  with 
prison  fare,  and  at  the  appointed  hour  repair  to  his  cell,  where 
the  iron  door  closed  upon  him,  where  again  he  listened  to 
the  heavy  bolt  grating  harshly  in  the  lock  and  where  night 
after  night  the  receding  steps  of  the  turnkey  revived  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  was  still  a  prisoner.  What  strange  frenzy 
had  taken  possession  of  the  man?  And  yet  how  like  thousands 
living  today ! — The  Homiletic  Review. 

A  boy,  seeing  his  mother  come  to  the  door  to  call  him  from 
his   ©lay.   clapped   both    hands   over   his    ears,    and    when    she 


THE   GREAT   DECISION  293 

called  him,  replied,  "I  can't  hear  you,  mamma."     How  often 
we  cover  our  ears  when  we  know  the  voice  of  duty  is  calling. 

"There  Is  a  Tide." 
When  the  tide  turns  in  the  Hudson  river,  it  turns  first  in  the 
center  of  the  river,  and  often  it  is  running  down  the  center 
when  it  is  running  up  at  the  side.  One  wishes  to  row  down 
stream,  and  when  he  pushes  out  from  the  bank  of  the  Hudson 
river  the  tide  sweeps  him  up  stream.  What  must  he  do?  Put 
all  the  energy  of  his  being  to  row  against  that  up-tide  until  he 
has  crossed  it  and  gotten  into  the  down-tide,  and  then  he  will 
be  swept  by  the  tide  itself  toward  the  sea.  So  a  man  in  temp- 
tation wishes  to  escape.  What  is  he  to  do?  Stay  by  shore 
and  hope  for  the  tide  to  take  him?  No.  Put  all  the  strength 
that  God  has  given  him  into  his  will,  and  pull  hard  for  the  cur- 
rent that  is  sweeping  heavenward ;  for  when  he  puts  his  will 
with  God's  will  then  he  comes  into  the  divine  tide. — The  Classmate. 

Step  On  the  Platform. 

Sam  Jones  was  talking  to  a  man  of  weak  faith  one  day. 
The  doubter  asked  if  Mr.  Jones  could  not  give  him  a  demon- 
stration of  religion. 

"None,"  was  the  reply.  "You  must  get  inside  the  fold,  and 
the  demonstration  will  come  of  itself.  Humble  yourself,  have 
faith,  and  you  shall  know  the  truth." 

"In  other  words,  I  must  believe,  accept  it  before  it  is  proved, 
and  believe  it  without  proof." 

"Now,  hold  on  right  there.!  Out  west  they  have  a  place 
for  watering  cattle.  The  cattle  have  to  mount  a  platform  to 
reach  the  troughs.  As  they  step  on  the  platform  their  weight 
presses  a  lever,  and  this  throws  the  water  into  the  troughs. 
They  have  got  to  get  on  the  platform  through  faith,  and  this 
act  provides  the  water  and  leads  them  to  it.  You  are  like  a 
smart  steer  that  slips  around  to  the  barn  yard  and  peeps  in  the 
trough,  without  getting  on  the  platform.  He  finds  the  trough, 
of  course,  but  it  needs  his  weight  on  the  platform  to  force  the 
water  up.  He  turns  away  disgusted,  and  tells  everybody  there 
is  no  water  in  the  trough.  Another  steer,  not  so  smart,  but 
with  more  faith,  steps  on  the  platform.  The  water  springs 
into  the  trough,  and  he  marches  up  and  drinks.     That's  the 


294  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

way  with  religion.  You've  got  to  get  on  the  platform.  If  you 
slide  around  the  back  way,  you'll  find  the  trough  dry.  But 
step  on  the  platform,  and  the  water  and  the  faith  come  together 
without  any  trouble — certain,  sure  and  abundant." — Detroit  Free 
Press. 

"I  Decided  There  and  Then." 
When  a  girl  of  seventeen  I  was  led  to  join  the  church  by 
the  following  circumstance.  I  had  for  a  friend  a  bright  girl 
of  skeptical  tendencies,  who  sneered  at  all  Christian  profession 
as  "cant."  One  day  she  was  unusually  bitter  over  several  of 
our  classmates,  arid  evidently  expected  me  to  join  with  her. 
Like  a  flash  the  thought  came,  "You  are  not  honest;  you  know 
your  place  is  with  Christ's  friends,  whom  this  girl  ridicules." 
I  decided,  then,  to  be  loyal  to  him,  true  to  myself,  and  honest 
before  the  world,  by  publicly  confessing  him. — E.  E.  B.,  in  The 
Golden  Rule. 

Immediate  Decision. 

An  African  boy  told  a  missionary  that  he  wished  to  confess 
Christ.  "Have  you  been  thinking  about  this  for  some  time?" 
asked  the  missionary.  "Oh,  no !"  said  the  boy,  "it  is  only  today ; 
but  I  listened  right  off." — World  Wide  Mission. 

The  Great  Decision. 

A  man  thus  described  his  conversion  to  the  Rev.  Mark 
Guy  Pearse :  "I  never  professed  to  be  a  Christian  or  any- 
thing like  that;  but  one  morning,  as  I  was  going  down  to  my 
business,  I  was  thinking  of  those  words,  'Simon,  son  of  Jonah, 
lovest  thou  me?'  I  did  wish  with  all  my  heart  that  I  could 
answer  them  as  Peter  did.  I  felt  very  sad  that  I  could  not. 
Then  it  came  to  me,  'Well,  if  I  cannot  say  so  much  as  Peter, 
could  I  not  turn  them  around  a  little  and  find  something 
easier?'  So  I  began  to  think  there  was  one  thing  I  could 
not  say.  I  could  not  say,  'Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  do  not 
love  thee,'  and  I  found  some  comfort  in  that.  At  last  I 
grew  bold  enough  to  look  up  and  say,  'Lord,  thou  knowest  all 
"things.  Thou  knowest  that  I  want  to  love  thee.'  Then  I 
began  to  think  about  his  great  love  for  me;  I  thought  of  his 
life,  of  his  words,  of  his  cross,  and  almost  before  I  knew  what 


THE  GREAT   DECISION  295 

I  was  doing,  I  looked  up  and  said,  'Thou  knowest  that  I  do 
love  thee.'  "  And  at  that  moment  the  consciousness  of  for- 
giveness and  a  new  life  came  into  his  heart. 

Dagger  tells  of  a  party  of  gentlemen,  sitting  upon  the  deck 
of  a  steamer  coming  up  the  Delaware  river  after  dark,  who 
looked  with  smiling  admiration  upon  the  distant  clouds 
illumined  by  a  conflagration  raging  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia. When  the  landing  was  reached  one  of  them  received 
this  message,  "Your  factory  has  been  entirely  destroyed 
by  fire."  He  had  been  smiling  at  the  blaze  which  made  him 
almost  penniless.  Many  today,  with  smiling  indiflference, 
read  of  a  crucified  Christ,  little  thinking  that  rejecting  that 
Christ  will  render  them  homeless  through  eternity. — Sunday  School 
Times. 

Try  Christ. 

A  minister  was  preaching  on  Glasgow  Green  a  few  years 
ago  when  some  one  asked  permission  to  speak,  and  made 
his  way  to  the  platform. 

"Friends,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  do  not  believe  what  this  man 
has  been  talking  about.  I  do  not  believe  in  a  hell,  in  a  judg' 
ment,  nor  in  a  God,  for  I  never  saw  any  of  them." 

He  continued  talking  in  this  way  for  a  while,  when  another 
voice  was  heard  from  the  crowd,  "May  I  speak?'  The  infidel 
sat  down;  the  next  man  began. 

"Friends,  you  say  there  is  a  river  running  not  far  from 
this  place,  the  river  Clyde.  There  is  no  such  thing;  it  is 
not  true.  You  tell  me  that  there  are  grass  and  trees  grow- 
ing around  me  where  I  now  stand;  there  is  no  such  thing; 
that  also  is  untrue.  You  tell  me  that  there  are  a  great  many 
people  standing  here.  Again,  I  say  that  is  not  true ;  there 
is  no  person  standing  here  save  myself.  I  suppose  you 
wonder  what  I  am  talking  about ;  but,  friends,  I  was  born 
blind.  I  never  have  seen  one  of  you,  and  while  I  talk  it 
only  shows  that  I  am  blind  or  I  would  not  say  such  things. 
And  you,"  he  said,  turning  to  the  infidel,  "the  more  you  talk 
the  more  it  exposes  your  own  ignorance,  because  you  are 
spiritually    blind,    and    cannot    see.     Dear    friends,    'By    faith 


296  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

ye    are    saved.'    Try    the    life    that    Christ    lived.     There    you 
will  find  life  and  love  and  everlasting  joy." — The  Life  of  Faith. 

Press  In. 

A  self-opening  gate  is  sometimes  seen  on  country  roads. 
If  a  traveler  stops  before  he  gets  to  it,  it  will  not  open.  If 
he  drives  up,  the  wheels  of  the  carriage  press  the  springs 
below  the  roadway,  and  the  gate  swings  back.  Thus  we 
should  meet  all  barriers.  The  Christian  must  press  close  up 
in  faith,  and  the  difficulty  will  be  overcome. 

The  Way  Will  Be  Cleared  As  We  Go. 
"We  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight." 

The  driver  of  the  tramcar  through  the  streets  of  our  city 
starts  with  his  car  upon  a  line  which  runs  continuously  to 
his  journey's  end.  If  he  goes  on  straight  ahead  he  will 
surely  come  to  the  destined  place.  Should  he  be  able  to  see 
all  the  route  at  once,  he  would  observe  many  coal  wagons, 
furniture  vans,  timber  carriages,  brewers'  drays  and  the  like, 
blocking  up  his  road  along  the  rails  and  he  might  mourn- 
fully ask,  "How  can  I  move  all  these  things?"  But  he  takes 
no  such  lengthened  view,  and  asks  no  such  useless  questions. 
As  he  moves  along,  all  sorts  of  obstructive  traffic  give  way 
before  him;  even  the  van  demons  yield  him  the  road.  When 
one  of  them  is  a  little  slow  in  getting  out  of  the  way,  our 
driver  blows  his  whistle ;  and  after  two  or  three  shrill  appeals, 
the  obstinate  vehicle  retires.  As  the  rails  run  all  the  way, 
so  does  the  car. 

Just  so  we  are  on  the  rails  of  eternal  life.  Between  us 
and  heaven  are  a  thousand  obstructions,  and,  if  we  think  of 
them  all,  we  may  well  be  fearful;  but  they  will  one  and  all 
disappear  as  we  come  to  them.  If  they  should  seem  likely 
to  bar  our  progress,  we  must  sound  the  whistle  of  prayer, 
and  in  due  season  they  will  turn  aside  and  leave  us  a  clear 
road  along  the  line  of  covenant  grace.  Therefore,  go  ahead, 
and  fear  no  impediment,  for  the  line  is  laid,  and  we  have  a 
legal  right  to  travel  along  it,  and  none  may  lawfully  hinder 
us. 

This  is  what  I  learned  from  the  driver  of  the  tramcar. — 
Sword  and  Trowel. 


SERVICE  TWELVE—Tuesday  Evening 
Accepting  and  Confessing  Christ 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XII 

I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God. — Acts 

8:37- 

Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  me  before  men, 
him  will  I  confess  also  before  my  Father  which  is 
in  heaven.  But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before 
men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven. — Matt.  10:32,  33. 

He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved. — 
Mark  16:16. 

This  do  ye  *  *  *  in  remembrance  of  me. — i 
Cor.  11:25. 

By  me,  if  any  man  enter  In,  he  shall  be  saved. — John 
io:q. 

He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me. — Matt.  12:30. 

If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments. — John  14:15. 
Drink  ye  all  of  it. — Matt.  26:27. 

Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command 
you. — John  15:14. 

What  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do? — Acts  p:6. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God. — Acts  8:37. 

1.  A  deep  conviction. 

2.  An  unreserved  avowal. 

3.  A   new   center   of  spiritual   influence   established. 

Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  But  who- 
soever shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before 
my  Father  which  is  in  heaven. — Matt,  10 :32,  33. 

1.  Christ   accepted,    demands    public    acknowledgement. 

2.  Compliance  wins   the  promise   of  Christ's   acknowl- 

edgement of  the  confessor,  in  heaven. 

3.  Denial  of  Christ  involves  denial  by  Christ. 

He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved. — Mark  16:16. 

1.  Salvation  offered  all. 

2.  Conditioned  upon  the  acceptance  of  Christ. 

3.  Upon  arraying  ourselves  on  his  side. 

This  do  ye     *     *     *     in  remembrance  of  me. — 1  Cor.  1 1 :25. 

1.  A  memorial  rite  provided. 

2.  Prescribed. 

3.  Enjoined. 

By  me,  if  any  man  enter  m,  he  shall  be  saved. — John  10:9. 

1.  Eternal  safety  within  the  fold. 

2.  Christ  the  only  door. 

3.  Entrance  voluntary. 

He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me. — Matt.  12:30. 

1.  No  neutrality  possible;  two  camps. 

2.  To  be  with  Christ  is  to  be  aligned  with  his  friends. 

3.  Not  to  be  out  and  out  for  Christ  is  to  be  his  foe. 

If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments. — ^John  14:15. 

1.  Obedience  the  test  of  love. 

2.  Some   of   Christ's   commands:    (1)    Confess.    (2)    Be 

baptized.     (3)     Do   this   in   remembrance   of   me. 
(4)  Do  good. 

3.  Can  love  refuse  to  comply? 


m)  THE  PASTOR -JilS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

Drink  ye  all  of  it.— Matt.  26:27. 

1.  The  last  supper  a  sacrament. 

2.  Its  observance  enjoined  upon  all  followers. 

3.  Neglect  dishonors  Christ. 

Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you. 
John  15:14. 

1.  The    privileges    of   friendship   with   Christ. 

2.  The  obligations. 

3.  The  evidence. 

What  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do? — Acts  9:6. 

1.  A  soul's  surrender. 

2.  Asking  for  orders. 

3.  The  opening  of  a  marvelous  career. 


SUGGESTIONS 

At  this  stage  of  the  evangelistic  services  there  will  prob- 
ably be  a  number  who  are  "almost  persuaded,"  but  are  held 
back  by  some  real  or  seeming  difficulty,  which  can  be  over- 
come by  tactful  dealing.  Mr,  Moody  was  peculiarly  success- 
ful with  such  cases.  A  few  of  his  special  methods  with 
inquirers  will  be  found  helpful.  We  give  them  herewith  as 
reported  by  Dr.  W.  F.  Crafts: 

For  those  who  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ  he  would  quote 
the  following  texts:  1  Cor.  15:47;  1  John  5:20,  17:3;  Mark  14: 
60-65.  In  John  5  :21,  Christ  claimed  honor  equal  to  the  Father. 
In  Matt.  18:20,  and  28:20,  he  claimed  to  be  omnipresent; 
in  Matt.  28:18,  to  be  omnipotent.  In  Mark  2:7,  we  find  him 
forgiving  sins.  In  John  9:23,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  wor- 
shiped. Angels  (Rev.  22:8,  9)  and  good  men  (Acts  14:13-15) 
protested  against  such  worship.  Other  passages  from  the 
eighth  and  fifteenth  chapters  of  Matthew  were  quoted.  "God- 
man"  explains  all  these  passages.  Sometimes  he  spoke  as  God; 
sometimes  as  man. 

Another  class  of  inquirers  referred  to  were  those  who  feel 
too  weak  to  undertake  a  Christian  life.  One  says,  "I  feel 
as  weak  as  water."  Thank  God!  then  you  are  just  where 
he  can  do  something  for  you.  Rom.  5  :6,  is  an  assurance  that 
these  who  are  "without  strength"  are  the  very  ones  for  whom 
"Christ  diejd."  The  ambassador  is  strong  because  of  the 
government  that  backs  liim. 

Another  class  of  inquirers  are  those  who  are  waiting  for 
feeling.  Tell  them  it  was  not  how  the  negroes  felt  in  1863, 
but  the  proclamation  that  proved  them  free.  Heb.  2:1, 
assures  us  that  faith  comes  not  by  feeling  but  by  hearing 
and  reading  God's  proclamation.  In  traveling  man  often 
gets  turned  around.  The  sun  seems  to  set  in  the  east.  If 
he  goes  by  feeling  he  will  go  astray.  He  seeks  knowledge 
rather,  and  follows  it  in  spite  of  a  feeling  that  points  the 
other   way.    A   woodchopper   in   the   winter   woods    does   not 


302  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

sit  down  on  a  log  and  say,  "I'm  going  to  wait  here  until  I 
get  warmed  up."  He  goes  to  work.  A  voice  in  the  audience 
cited  two  passages  as  seeming  to  some  to  warrant  the  idea 
that  feeling  is  a  necessary  part  of  faith.  "With  the  heart 
man  believeth."  "If  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou 
mayest."  Mr.  Moody's  answer  to  his  question,  only  one  of 
many  he  received,  was  unsatisfactory,  but  it  was  suggested 
by  another  question  from  the  audience  that  the  word  "heart" 
in  these  passages  and  most  others  refers  to  the  "inward 
man,"  the  mind,  not  to  the  emotions  distinctively.  To  the 
question,  "Would  you  teach  an  inquirer  to  depend  on  his 
feelings  or  the  Bible?"  Mr.  Moody  gave  swift  answer,  "The 
Bible  every  time.  The  devil  can  play  on  my  feelings  like  a 
harp.    I've  seen  men  crying  for  feeling,  anxious  to  be  anxious." 

To  those  who  are  "afraid  they  will  sin  after  they  become 
Christians,"  1  John  2:1,  was  to  be  given.  "If  a  man  sin, 
we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,"  which  was  written  to 
Christians.  No  believer  is  to  make  provision  for  sinning; 
but  God  has  made  such  provision. 

When  one  is  met  who  has  come  into  darkness  shortly 
after  conversion,  it  may  always  be  assumed  that  it  is  due 
to  one  or  both  of  two  causes.  The  inquirer  has  been 
ashamed  to  go  home  and  confess  his  new  purpose  to  his 
friends,  or  he  has  remembered  some  enemy  who  he  has  been 
unwilling  to  forgive.  Read  to  such  Rom.  10:9-11,  to  rebuke 
their  fear,  and  Matt.  18:21-35,  to  rebuke  their  hatred. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

There  is  the  overwhelming  and  overawing  spectacle  of 
this  world  with  its  pomps  and  glories.  Its  look  is  lofty,  and 
it  speaks  great  things,  and  its  vast  array  is  ever  before  us. 
We  cannot  get  away  from  it.  Go  where  we  will  it  follows  us. 
It  is  a  vision  before  our  minds  if  not  a  sight  before  our  eyes; 
it  is  the  scene  of  the  Babylonian  power  and  greatness  still 
going  on,  though  in  another  form,  and  accommodated  to 
every  age  in  succession.  *****  Men  reject  every- 
where the  office  of  witnessing  to  divine  truth ;  they  throw  it 
off  as  an  obstacle,  a  shackle,  and  a  burden,  something  that 
stands  in  their  way,  and  prevents  them  from  being  friends 
with  the  world,  and  from  getting  on  in  the  world.  They 
know  the  truth,  but  will  not  witness  to  it.  They  know  the 
world  is  transitory,  and  yet  they  act  as  if  it  were  eternal. 
*****  Yet  we  may  venture  to  say,  and  with  cer- 
tainty, that  never,  on  any  occasion,  by  any  one  of  the  hum- 
blest servants  of  God,  was  this  office  of  witness  to  the  truth 
executed  without  a  reward.  Never  in  this  mixed  world  did 
a  Christian  soul  offer  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  a  practical  con- 
fession of  him  by  standing  apart  from  the  ways  of  the  world 
— not  accepting  its  voice,  not  yielding  to  its  spells,  or  being 
overawed  by  its  show ;  never  did  any  one  face  any  measure 
of  adversity  or  gloom,  or  isolation  or  deprivation,  as  the 
consequence  and  penalty  of  bearing  witness  to  the  truth  and 
expressing  that  truth  in  action,  but  he  had,  like  the  three 
Hebrews  in  their  adversity,  a  companion. — Modey. 

Can  it  be  that  there  are  those  who  are  ashamed  of  Jesus 
and  on  that  account  will  not  be  found  in  his  company,  or 
counted  among  his  followers,  or  connected  with  his  cause? 
What  is  there  in  Jesus  to  be  ashamed  of? 

Of  his  life?  Who  besides  could  say  as  did  he,  without 
fear  of  well-grounded  dissent,  "Who  of  you  convinceth  me 
of  sin?"  Christ's  enemes  sought  diligently  for  faults  and 
flaws    in    his    character    and    life,    and    found    none.     Pilate, 


304  THE   PASTOR, HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

before  whom  he  was  tried,  said,  "I  find  no  fault  in  this  man," 
and  thus  branded  as  false  the  charges  brought  against  him 
by  his  accusers.  Ashamed  of  him  who  was  confessedly  the 
cleanest  and  best  that  ever  trod  the  face  of  the  earth?  Such 
may  well  feel  ashamed  of  themselves. — Dr.  Anne  V enema. 

If  joining  the  church  is  a  duty,  then  it  cannot  wisely  be 
postponed.  Putting  off  known  duties  is  one  of  the  most 
effective  of  all  ways  of  putting  out  the  eyes  of  the  soul. 
As  for  your  fear  of  not  holding  out,  banish  it  at  once.  Now 
that  you  are  a  Christian  you  must  walk  by  faith  and  the 
sooner  you  begin  the  better.  Christ  has  promised  to  keep 
you  and  it  is  a  bad  beginning  to  start  off  by  doubting  him. 

As  for  your  deficiency  in  goodness,  I  acknowledge  it  is 
great,  but  it  is  not  great  enough  to  bar  you  from  the  church. 
You  should  never  think  of  the  church  as  a  museum  of  models 
or  an  artistic  collection  of  labeled  saints.  The  church  is  a 
school,  and  if  you  are  willing  to  be  taught  by  the  great 
teacher,  you  have  a  rightful  place  in  it. — Dr.  Charles  E.  Jefferson. 

My  church  is  not  a  club,  organized  for  the  welfare  of 
the  members  only.  It  is  a  body  of  baptized  believers,  banded 
together  for  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Its  spirit 
is  unselfish,  and  its  purpose  spiritual.  My  church  being 
founded  by  the  Son  of  God  and  purchased  with  his  own 
blood,  I  regard  the  humblest  place  in  it  as  the  highest  honor 
and  privilege.  My  membership,  I  firmly  hold,  involves  the 
following  points: 

It  means  praying.  Jesus  prayed  habitually.  "God  soon 
fades  out  of  the  life  of  the  man  who  ceases  to  pray."  The 
early  church  was  a  powerful  church  because  it  was  a  prayer- 
ful church.  "Humanness  plus  prayer  equals  mighty  achieve- 
ments."    I  will  pray  daily. 

It  means  paying.  God  gave  his  only  begotten  Son.  Christ 
gave  his  life.  My  church  needs  my  gifts.  I  need  to  give. 
It  is  one  of  the  Christian  graces  in  which  I  should  grow. 
(2  Cor.  8:7.)  It  being  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
I  want  to  know  the  greater  blessedness.  (Acts  20:35.)  My 
church  covenant  binds  me  to  help   spread  the   gospel.  There- 


ACCEPTING  AND  CONFESSING  CHRIST  305 

fore,  my  giving  shall  be  cheerful,  regular  and  proportionate 
to  my  ability.  (2  Cor.  9:7;  1  Cor.  16:2.)     I  will  pay. 

It  means  plodding.  William  Carey,  the  father  of  modern 
missions,  said,  "I  can  plod ;  to  this  I  owe  everything." 
He  plodded  his  way  to  immortality.  I  do  not  ask  an  easy 
or  a  conspicuous  place.  I  am  willing  to  toil  wherever  my 
Lord  may  need  me.  I  may  not  have  unusual  talent,  but  I  do 
possess  the  kind  of  genius  that  plods,  and  that  counts.  I 
will  plod  in  my  study  of  the  Scriptures,  learning  a  little  each 
day.  I  will  plod  to  the  house  of  God  and  in  the  house  of 
God.  I  will  labor  with  unrelenting  industry  and  with  the 
enthusiasm  of  patience.     I  will  plod. 

It  means  persevering.  I  will  hold  fast  and  keep  sweet. 
I  will  not  take  offense,  climb  the  miff-tree  and  quit.  I  will 
not  imitate  Bunyan's  character,  Mr.  Shortwind,  who  began 
earnestly,  but  quickly  ran  out  of  breath.  I  have  enlisted  for 
life.  I  recall  my  Lord's  solemn  words,  "He  that  endureth 
to  the  end  shall  be  saved."  (Matt.  10:22.)  Through  his  grace 
I  will  persevere. — Thomas  J.  Villiers. 

The  following  reasons  for  joining  the  church  are  taken 
from  a  long  list  given  in  an  excellent  leaflet  published  by  the 
United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor: 

In  accepting  a  Savior  whose  blood  has  atoned  for  my  sin,  my 
first  desire  was  to  serve  him  faithfully.  By  uniting  with  his  people. 
I  should  (1)  do  his  will,  as  expressed  in  John  17:21,  "That  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us ;  (2)  obtain  the  help  and  prayers  of  others  in 
forming  my  own  Christian  character;  (3)  make  a  distinct  and  open 
profession  of  my  allegiance  to  him;  (4)  give  my  mite  of  service 
where  it  should  accomplish  the  most  for  him.  In  fact,  in  unit- 
ing with  Christ's  church,  I  simply  and  humbly  accepted  his 
own  wise  plan. — F.  H.  H. 

"1.  Because  I  believe  it  is  God's  will  that  every  converted 
person  should  belong  to  the  visible  church,  as  well  as  to  the 
invisible.  2.  Because  sharing  in  its  support,  and  having 
my  name  on  its  register,  I  take  more  interest  in  its  welfare, 
feel  more  at  home  while  worshiping  there,  and  consequently 
am  better  prepared  to  learn  m}^  Master's  will  and  to  perform 
it.     3.     Lest,  after  having  enlisted  in  the  army,  and  not  hav- 


306  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ing  donned  the  uniform,  I  wander  away,  and  be  mistaken 
for  one  of  the  enemy,  4.  There  I  see  better  opportunities 
for  systematic  work." — 5'.  F.  N. 

You  should  confess  Christ  by  uniting  with  the  church  for 
your  own  highest  good.  You  do  not  and  cannot  feel  right  till 
you  come  into  the  fold  where  the  Shepherd  is.  Joining  the 
church  places  you  in  a  position  of  responsibility  before  men. 
That  will  be  for  your  own  supreme  good.  You  are  then 
expected  to  be  religious.  Joining  the  church  secures  the  help 
and  watch-care  of  fellow  Christians,  which  is  a  very  great 
blessing.  Preaching,  too,  then  becomes  of  far  more  value 
to  you.  The  ordinances  of  the  church  then  will  be  yours, 
to  nourish,  strengthen  and  keep  you. 

You  ought  to  do  so  because  it  is  the  wish  of  Christ;  Jesus 
instituted  the  church.  He  said,  "Upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  church."  Christ  established  the  church  for  you. 
He  desires  you  to  be  in  it  and  not  outside  of  it.  Do  you 
say,  "I  can  be  saved  outside?"  Suppose  you  can,  are  you 
justified  in  pleasing  yourself?  Have  you  no  motive  higher 
than  a  selfish  one?  Is  it  not  better  to  please  Christ  than 
yourself?  Salvation  is  not  a  selfish  thing;  it  is  not  merely 
nor  chiefly  for  your  own  personal  well-being.  Christ  has 
redeemed  you  with  his  own  precious  blood,  in  order  that  you 
might  serve  him,  and  not  yourself.  You  have  no  right  to 
hide  the  light,  nor  to  follow  Christ  in  a  private  way,  nor  to 
stand  aloof  from  the  brotherhood  of  saints.  It  is  your  duty 
to  come  out  from  the  world,  to  separate  yourself  from  sin- 
ners, to  assume  the  vows  and  obligations  of  a  public  profes- 
sion of  Christianity,  and  to  put  yourself  in  vital  relations 
with  Christ's  church. — R.  C.  Zartman,  D.  D. 

If,  then,  anyone  wishes  to  become  a  Christian,  there  is 
no  difficulty  in  becoming  one.  There  is  a  difficulty  before 
this  point,  and  there  is  a  difficulty  after  this  point,  but  in  the 
thing  itself  there  is  no  difficulty.  There  is  a  difficulty  before 
— the  difficulty  of  making  up  one's  mind  to  be  a  Christian; 
and  this  is  serious  indeed.  It  is  often  said  that  it  is  an  easy 
thing  to  become  a  Christian;  it  is  easy  in  the  sense  in  which 
it  is  easy   to  let  go  when   you   are   hanging  by   your   hands 


ACCEPTING  AND  CONFESSING  CHRIST  307 

to  the  ledge  of  a  cliff,  or  in  which  it  is  easy  for  a  man  in 
power  to  sign  the  death-warrant  of  a  friend.  The  actual 
thing  to  be  done  is  easy,  but  it  involves  an  internal  disturb- 
ance, a  severance  from  cherished  hopes,  a  life-changing  decis- 
ion which  no  intelligent  and  honest  man  find  easy. 

But  this  difficulty  is  already  past,  when  one  has  reached 
the  point  of  desiring  to  be  a  Christian.  There  is  a  difficulty 
after  becoming  a  Christian — the  difficulty  of  continuing  to 
be  one ;  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  faith  in  Christ  in  the  midst 
of  failure,  and  against  temptations  to  worldliness  and  pleas- 
ure. But  in  the  thing  itself  there  is  no  difficulty.  You  have 
but  to  open  youi  heart  to  Christ,  to  tell  him  as  you  would 
tell  a  friend,  what  you  are,  what  you  need,  what  you  desire. 
You  have  but  to  ask  his  Spirit,  and  his  Spirit  you  will  assur- 
edly receive. 

The  way  is  open  before  you.  Christ  invites  you  to  follow 
him.  He  leads  you  to  purity  and  dignity  of  character,  to 
the  best  possession  a  man  can  have,  a  life  well  spent.  Not 
to  follow  him  is  to  refuse  the  best  when  it  is  put  within  our 
reach. — Marcus  Dods. 

Why  did  I  confess  Christ  by  union  with  his  church?  Why 
am  I  a  church  member? 

1.  Because  my  father  was  a  church  member.  That  rea- 
son is  not  as  invertebrate  as  this  progressive  and  novelty- 
loving  age  is  apt  to  deem  it.  A  path  is  not  necessarily  to  be 
shunned  because  some  one  else  has  trodden  it  safely.  If 
"old  songs  and  old  books  and  old  friends"  are  the  best,  "old 
paths"  may  be  considered  so  too.  We  should  "think  for 
ourselves,"  and  yet  we  must  be  careful  not  to  allow  the  fact 
that  some  one  else  has  already  thought  the  same  thoughts 
to  prejudice  us  against  them.  They  may  be  right  thoughts, 
even  if  they  have  been  tried  and  proven  by  other  souls.  So 
the  fact  that  my  father  was  a  church  member,  and  that  I  found 
he  was  helped  and  strengthened  by  entering  into  that 
relation,  may  be  looked  upon  as  presumptive  evidence  in  its 
favor,  and,  taken  with  other  reasons,  may  be  considered  a 
valid  reason  for  my  having  taken  this   important  step. 


308  THE   PASTOR  |IIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

2.  Because  gratitude  for  salvation  impels  me  to  desire 
to  make  the  most  of  myself  and  my  opportunities  for  Christ. 
The  church,  by  its  organized  and  systematized  plans  and 
agencies,  multiplies  my  opportunities,  and  vastly  increases 
my  power  for  good.  It  is  the  difference  between  fighting 
in  the  ranks  of  a  trained  and  thoroughly  disciplined  soldiery, 
and  carrying  on  a  guerilla  warfare — never  being  quite  sure 
whether  I  am  doing  more  harm  to  friend  or  foe. 

3.  Because  the  new-born  soul  naturally  gravitates  toward 
the  church.  One  of  the  marks  of  the  new  birth  is  that  we 
"love  the  brethren."  We  are  drawn  to  them  by  the  common 
bond  that  binds  us  all  to  Christ.  It  is  an  impulse  in  our 
quickened  life,  and  we  need  no  cold  logic  to  account  for  it.  In 
all  walks  of  life  men  seek  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with 
their  aims  and  feelings.  We  do  so  here.  The  atmosphere 
of  Christian  fellowship  is  congenial  to  us.  We  believe  in  the 
"communion  of  the  saints." 

4.  Because  I  believe  that  the  forces  of  right  should  be  (as 
are  the  forces  of  wrong)  massed  and  concentrated;  that  the 
spirit  of  aloofness  is  thoroughly  pleasing  to  the  devil,  and  all 
the  more  so  when  found  in  a  man  of  scupulous  life. 

5.  Because  I  doubt  the  genuineness  of  love  that  withholds 
obedience.  Christ  has  commanded  my  participation  in  the 
sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper.  Practically  I 
am  excluded  from  these,  except  as  I  become  a  member  of 
the  church.  "To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice."  I  believe 
that  the  spirit  of  child-like  obedience  will  lead  to  ready 
compliance    with    the    Savior's    reasonable    commands. 

6.  Because  I  am  so  frail  that  even  if  this  command  were 
not  clear  and  definite,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  ally  myself 
with  the  church  of  Christ  in  order  that  I  may  have  all  the 
helps  to  fidelity  I  can  secure. — J.  H.  Bomherger,  D.  D. 

I  united  with  the  church  when  I  was  eighteen  years  of 
age,  upon  the  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  scriptures,  rely- 
ing wholly  upon  the  promises  of  God.  I  had  not  the  least 
sense  of  what  is  called  "feeling,"  but  simply  a  disposition  to 


ACCEPTING   AND   CONFESSING   CHRIST  309 

surrender  my  will  to  the  will  of  God,  and  to  be  governed 
thereby.  This  is  about  all  I  know  regarding  my  conversion. 
— Hon.  John  Wanamaker. 

What  advantage  is  there  in  being  a  member  of  the  church? 
Here  are  some  answers: 

"Church  membership  has  helped  me  to  carry  out  duties 
which   otherwise   might  have  been   disregarded." 

"The  feeling  of  fellowship  with  many  serving  the  same 
Savior  has  kept  my  heart  warm  and  my  love  strong  for  the 
Master." 

"Less  conceited  about  myself,  more  respect  for  others' 
convictions." 

"It  has  been  a  help  to  think  that  I  am,  in  a  very  small 
way,  responsible  for  the  church  and  my  fellows.  It  has 
greatly  helped  me  by  giving  me  chances  to  work,  and  has 
kept  me  in  good  society." 

"The  step  for  me  was  a  test  of  love  to  Christ,  and  if 
not  taken,  God  only  knows  what  the  result  would  have  been." 

"It  has  made  more  real  to  me  the  fact  that  I  belong  to 
Christ." 

"Church  membership  has  increased  my  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, and  broadened  my  sympathies." 

"It  has  helped  me  to  have  a  greater  interest  in  and  love 
for  those  about  me." 

"Helped  me  to  have  a  higher  idea  of  life,  and  to  get  nearer 
to  it." 

"It  has  made   me  stronger  in   resisting  bad  thoughts." 

"I  value  it  for  the  sense  of  oneness  in  Christ,  of  unity  of 
purpose  and  life  with  all  members  of  Christ's  church.  The 
/church  points  to  the  cross." — Indian  Witness. 

Crab  apples  grow  wild,  but  snow  apples  require  the  gar- 
dener. I  did  not  want  to  be  a  crab  apple  if  I  could  help  it, 
so  I  got  inside  the  orchard.  This  was  the  first  reason;  I  felt 
I  owed  it  to  myself. 

But  there  was,  I  trust,  another.  He  who  joins  the  church 
only  for  his  own  sake  is  not  fit  to  join  the  church  at  all. 
Whoever  spends  his  time  in  thinking  only  of  saving  his  own 


310  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

little  soul,  has  a  soul  so  little  that  it  is  not  worth  saving.  So 
that  here  was  my  second  reason :  Not  only  because  of  the 
help  I  could  get,  but  because  of  the  help  which  perhaps  I 
could  give.  There  were  others  needing  me  as  I  was  needing 
them.  A  change  of  heart  will  always  be  manifest  by  a  change 
of  companions.  The  first  thing  Saul  of  Tarsus  did,  when  on 
his  way  to  Damascus  he  saw  the  Lord,  was  to  hunt  up  the 
Lord's  disciples,  and  become  openly  one  of  them. 

Then  there  was  a  third  reason.  It  was  commanded  by  our 
Lord ;  and  if  I  were  seeking  to  be  his  disciple  I  wanted  to  obey 
"marching  orders,"  and  to  do  that  I  had  to  get  into  the  ranks. 
No  one  has  a  right  to  pray  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  unless  he  is 
ready  to  unite  with  those  who  are  seeking  to  make  it  come. — 
George  Thomas  Dozvling,  D.  D. 

I  am  a  member  of  the  church  of  Christ  because  I  made 
up  my  mind  deliberately  that  Christianity  was  right  in  princi- 
ple, and  consequently  Christ  was  true.  So,  feeling  that  it  is 
always  better  to  be  right  than  to  be  wrong,  I  determined  to 
stand  on  the  side  with  the  right.  Then  Christ  came  into 
my  soul. — RiissqU  H.  ConwelL 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Confessing  and  Denying  Christ. 
If  privileged  and  professing  hearers  of  the  gospel  come 
short  of  the  kingdom,  the  fault  lies  not  in  the  seed — the 
fault  lies  not  often  nor  to  a  great  extent  in  the  sower, 
although  his  work  may  have  been  feebly  and  unskillfully 
done.  If  the  seed  is  good  and  the  ground  well-prepared,  a 
very  poor  and  awkward  kind  of  sowing  will  suffice.  Seed 
flung  in  any  fashion  into  the  soft  ground  will  grow,  whereas, 
if  it  fall  on  the  wayside  it  will  bear  no  fruit,  no  matter  how 
artfully  it  may  have  been  spread.  My  father  was  a  practical 
and  skillful  agriculturalist.  I  was  wont,  when  very  young, 
to  follow  his  footsteps  into  the  field,  further  and  oftener  than 
was  convenient  for  him  or  comfortable  for  myself.  Knowing 
well  how  much  a  child  is  gratified  by  being  permitted  to  imitate 
a  man's  work,  he  sometimes  hung  the  seed-bag,  with  the  few 
handfuls  in  it,  upon  my  shoulder  and  sent  me  into  the  field  to 
sow.  I  contrived  in  some  way  to  throw  the  grain  away,  and 
it  fell  among  the  clods;  but  the  seed  that  fell  from  an  infant's 
hands,  when  it  fell  in  the  right  place,  grew  as  well  and  ripened 
as  fully  as  that  which  had  been  scattered  by  a  strong  and 
skillful  man.  In  like  manner  in  the  spiritual  department,  the 
skill  of  the  sower, — although  important  in  its  own  place — is, 
in  view  of  the  final  result,  a  subordinate  thing.  The  cardinal 
points  are  the  seed  and  the  soil.  In  point  of  fact,  throughout 
the  history  of  the  church,  while  the  Lord  abundantly  honored 
his  ordinance  of  a  standing  ministry,  he  never  ceased  to  show, 
by  granting  signal  success  to  feeble  instruments,  that  results 
in  his  work  are  not  necessarily  proportionate  to  the  number 
of  talents  employed. — Words  and  Weapons. 

Brave  Confession. 

When  dining  with  one  of  his  friends,  George  Moore  heard 

one  of  the  guests  say,  in  general  terms,  "Surely  there  is  no 

one   here    so   antiquated   as    to   believe   in    the    inspiration    of 

Scripture?"     "Yes,  I  do,"  said  George  Moore  from  the  other 


312  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

side  of  the  table,  "and  I  should  be  very  much  ashamed  of 
myself  if  I  did  not."  Silence  followed,  and  the  subject  was 
changed.  The  ladies  went  to  the  drawing-room,  and  the 
gentlemen  followed.  "Can  you  tell  me,"  asked  the  non-be- 
liever in  inspiration,  of  a  lady,  "who  is  the  gentleman  who  so 
promptly  answered  my  inquiry  in  the  dining-room?"  "Oh, 
yes,  he  is  my  husband."  "I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "you  have 
told  me  that  so  soon,  for  I  wished  to  say  that  I  have  never 
been  so  struck  with  the  religious  sincerity 'of  any  one.  I  shall 
never  forget  it." 

The  Influence  of  Confession. 
A  most  gracious  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  was  that  which 
in  1815  came  upon  the  students  in  Princeton  College.  Presi- 
dent Green  said  in  his  report  of  it,  "The  divine  influence 
seemed  to  descend  like  the  silent  dew  of  heaven,  and  in  about 
four  weeks  there  were  few  individuals  in  the  college  edifice 
who  were  not  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  impor- 
tance of  spiritual  and  eternal  things.  There  was  scarcely  a 
room,  perhaps  not  one,  which  was  not  a  place  of  earnest, 
secret  devotion."  He  attributed  it  largely  to  the  fidelity  of 
several  of  the  younger  students  who  took  a  public  stand, 
among  them  Charles  Hodge,  then  seventeen  years  of  age. 
President  John  Maclean  was  accustomed  to  connect  his  own 
conversion  with  young  Hodge's  confession  of  Christ.  Prof. 
Dufifield  thus  repeats  the  story  from  Dr.  Maclean's  report  of 
it:  "John  Maclean,  then  a  junior  in  college,  did  not  manifest 
any  interest  in  the  subject  of  religion  until  one  day  a  friend, 
Edward  Allen,  said  to  him,  'Maclean,  have  you  heard  the 
news?'  'What  news?'  he  asked.  Allen  replied,  'Hodge  and 
van  Dyke  have  enlisted.'  He  was  for  the  moment  startled  by 
the  statement,  as  there  was  at  that  time  in  Princeton  an  offi- 
cer engaged  in  obtaining  recruits  for  the  army.  After  a  brief 
pause  Allen  added,  'They  have  enlisted  under  the  banner  of 
King  Jesus.'  Maclean  replied,  'Well,  that  is  the  best  enlist- 
ment they  could  have  made,'  and  was  about  to  leave  the 
room.  His  friend  requested  him  to  remain,  and  then  spoke 
to  him  of  the  importance  of  personal  religion,  and  urged  him 
to  give  the  subject  immediate  attention.     The  result  was  the 


ACCEPTING   AND   CONFESSING   CHRIST  313 

conviction  that  he  ought  to  do  so,  and  he  at  once  began  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  with  prayer  that  he  might  be  enabled 
to  make  them  the  rule  of  his  conduct.  He  was  soon  led  to 
trust  in  Christ  as  his  Savior."  Among  those  who  became 
disciples  at  the  same  time  were  many  well  known  afterward 
for  eminent  service,  like  Bishop  Mcllvaine  and  Bishop  Johns. 

A  Famous  Confessor. 

Count  Zinzendorf  was  a  remarkable  man  *  *  *  ^  man 
who  in  early  life  renounced  the  prospects  of  worldly  distinc- 
tion, of  honors,  and  of  fame  so  as  to  remove  every  impedi- 
ment in  the  way  of  devoting  the  powers  of  his  gifted  soul  to 
the  promotion  of  Christ's  kingdom. 

While  at  the  University  of  Halle,  when  but  seventeen  years 
of  age,  he  was  seeking  the  salvation  of  his  companions,  hold- 
ing prayer  meetings,  and  organized  the  Society  of  the  Mus- 
tard-Seed, whose  object  was  to  seek  the  salvation  of  neglected 
heathen,  and  to  testify  of  Jesus  in  their  correspondence. 

At  twenty-two  he  was  receiving  and  befriending  the  exiles 
from  Moravia  and  Bohemia,  giving  them  a  home  on  his 
estates. 

At  twenty-seven  he  had  by  personal  conversation  in  every 
home  and  with  every  individual  in  Herrnhut,  and  by  daily 
conferences  and  religious  services,  prepared  the  way  and  made 
possible  the  marvellous  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
church  of  Berthelsdorf,  August  13,  1727,  which  is  to  this  day 
commemorated  in  every  Moravian  congregation  as  the  birth- 
day of  that  church. 

At  thirty-two  he  called  for  volunteers  to  carry  the  gospel 
to  the  island  of  St.  Thomas,  thus  inaugurating  the  missionary 
work  of  the  Moravian  church.  Two  years  later  he  became  a 
minister  of  the  church,  and  laid  aside  his  sword,  the  insignia 
of  his  rank. 

In  the  sarne  year  he  was  exiled  from  Saxony  on  account 
of  his  activity  on  behalf  of  this  new  church,  and  turned  his 
back  upon  his  country  with  the  memorable  words,  "We  must 
now  preach  the  Savior  to  the  world." 

At  sixty  years  of  age  he  had  literally  worn  himself  out  in 
the  service  of  his  Lord,  and  passed  to  his  reward. 


314  THE   PASTOR  H15  OWN   EVANGELIST 

He  regarded  himself  as  divinely  called,  in  every  place  to 
which  the  hand  of  the  Lord  led  him,  to  fill  the  office  of  a 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  w^ho  is  under  obligation  to  minister 
to  every  one. 

Invited  by  the  king  of  Denmark  to  make  Copenhagen  •  the 
special  field  of  his  labor,  he  replied,  "I  have  been  speaking 
with  widows,  and  the  poor,  and  the  low  who  trust  in  the 
Lord;  and  I  was  at  the  same  time  so  penetrated  with  the  low- 
liness of  Christ  that  I  have  humbly  offered  up  to  the  Lord 
anything  in  the  way  suggested,  *  *  *  and  resolved  to 
know  nothing  except  being  lowly,  poor,  and  despised." — The 
Christian  Endeavor  World. 

A  Heroine  For  Christ. 

Anne  Askew,  one  of  the  martyrs  for  the  Protestant  faith, 
was,  after  many  imprisonments,  again  and  again  exhorted, 
threatened,  tortured,  in  order  to  induce  her  to  recant.  When 
in  the  Tower,  she  was  placed  on  the  rack  and  submitted  to 
its  cruelties,  where,  in  her  own  words,  "Because  I  lay  still 
and  did  not  cry,  my  Lord  Chancellor  and  Master  Rich  took 
pains  to  rack  me  with  their  own  hands  till  I  was  nigh  dead." 
Sir  Anthony  Knyvet,  the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  lifted  her 
off  in  his  arms.  She  swooned,  and  was  laid  on  the  floor;  and 
when  she  recovered,  the  chancellor  remained  two  hours  long- 
er laboring  to  persuade  her  to  recant.  But,  as  she  said,  she 
thanked  God  she  had  strength  left  to  persevere;  she  preferred 
to  die,  and  to  death  they  left  her.  She  was  afterwards  burned 
at  Smithfield. 

Diminishing   Chances. 

Dr.  Spencer,  of  Brooklyn,  made  an  examination  of  the  ages 
of  two  hundred  and  thirty  persons  who  were  converted  under 
his  faithful  ministry  during  a  certain  period.  Of  these  there 
were  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  who  were  under  twenty 
years  of  age.  Sixty-five  were  between  twenty  and  thirty. 
Twenty-two  were  between  thirty  and  forty,  and  only  eight  of 
the  whole  number  had  passed  middle  life. 

Confessing   Christ   in   Hard   Places. 
Admiral    Foote,   of  the   American   navy,   was  a   very   godly 
man.     While  pacing  the   deck   at  night,   on   the   lonely   seas, 


ACCEPTING   AND   CONFESSING   CHRIST  315 

and  talking  with  a  pious  shipmate,  he  became  convinced  of 
his  need  of  a  Savior  and  became  his  disciple,  remaining  true 
to  his  profession  to  the  last.  He  used  to  be  called  the  "Stone- 
wall Jackson  of  the  navy."  He  often  preached  to  his  crew 
on  Sundays,  and  was  ever  forward  in  doing  good. 

Confessing  Christ  at  Home. 

In  one  of  his  sermons,  in  Cleveland,  Gipsy  Smith  said,  "In 
one  of  my  meetings  some  time  ago,  in  answer  to  the  appeal 
that  I  tried  to  make,  a  man  saw  the  reasonableness  of  giving 
himself  to  Christ  and  he  did  it.  He  came  home  much  earlier 
than  usual  as  he  been  in  the  habit  of  spending  his  nights  at 
the  club.  His  wife  was  upstairs,  just  going  around  for  the  last 
time  and  seeing  that  the  children — she  had  three  boys  and  a 
girl — were  tucked  in  for  the  night,  when  she  heard  her  hus- 
band's footsteps  downstairs.  And  she  said,  'Fred,  is  that  you?' 
'Yes.'  He  said  this  in  a  tone  she  had  not  heard  for  a  long 
time — she  had  heard  that  tone  of  voice  years  before,  but  not 
for  a  long  time.  She  ran  down  stairs  as  he  was  hanging  up 
his  hat  and  coat  in  the  hall.  She  followed  him  into  one  of 
the  rooms  that  was  lighted,  and  saw  that  he  was  weeping. 
She  said,  'Fred,  have  you  heard  bad  news?'  'No.'  'Is  there 
anything  the  matter  with  the  business?'  'No.'  'Have  you 
seen  your  father?'  'No.  I  have  been  down  to  that  meeting 
and  that  man  told  me  I  ought  to  be  a  Christian.  It  came  home 
to  me  and  I  thought  of  you  and  the  children,  and  I  said  to 
myself,  I  ought  to  be  a  Christian.  I  have  given  my  heart 
to  God,  and  I  want  you  to  help  me.'  She  said,  'Fred,  since 
the  day  you  led  me  to  the  altar  I  have  been  secretly  praying 
that  this  day  might  come,  and  if  you  will  let  me  bring  the 
children  down  stairs  we  will  begin  to  serve  God  together.' 
And  the  children  were  brought  down  stairs  and  they  began 
as  every  man  ought  to  begin,  in  his  own  home,  family  relig- 
ion. One  of  those  boys  is  a  preacher  in  this  country  today. 
O  brother,  give  your  children  a  chance,  give  your  wife  a 
chance,  give  future  generations  a  chance,  and  you  can  only 
do  it  as  you  put  Christ  in  his  right  place.  God  help  us  all 
to  do  it  now." 


316  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

"Secretly." 
Victorinus,  a  great  man  at  Rome,  who  had  many  rich 
heathen  friends  and  relatives,  was  converted  to  the  Christian 
religion.  He  repaired  to  a  friend  of  his,  also  a  convert,  and 
told  him  secretly  that  he,  too,  was  a  Christian.  "I  will  not 
believe  thee  to  be  a  Christian,"  said  the  other,  "until  I  see 
thee  openly  profess  it  in  the  church."  "What,"  said  Victor- 
inus, "do  the  church  walls  make  a  Christian?"  But  directly 
the  answer  came  to  his  own  heart,  "Whosoever  shall  be 
ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words,  of  him  also  shall  the  Son 
of  man  be  ashamed  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father  with  the  holy  angels." — Augustine's  Confessions. 

The  Supreme  Difficulty. 

The  salvation  of  men  is  the  supreme  difficulty  of  God. 
Jesus  Christ  said,  "Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  may 
have  life."  The  great  difficulty  is  to  do  right  in  any  way. 
The  whole  head  is  sick,  the  whole  heart  faint.  Through  and 
through,  up  and  down,  we  are  wounds  and  bruises  and  putre- 
fying sores;  the  right  hand  is  crippled,  and  the  left  hand 
withered ;  the  head  is  guilty,  and  the  heart  irregular,  and  the 
foot  skilled  in  going  backward.  What  wonder  when  the  grand 
climax,  the  sovereign  appeal  is  reached,  to  surrender  to  God 
and  love  him,  that  we  come  upon  the  supreme  difficulty. — Joseph 
Parker. 

Others  Influenced  By  You. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  a  father  who  took  his  little  boy  one 
morning  into  the  city,  where  he  transacted  his  business. 
When  noon  came  he  took  his  boy  into  a  restaurant  where  he 
often  had  lunch.  The  waiter,  on  receiving  the  order,  and 
knowing  that  it  was  the  father's  custom  to  have  a  bottle  of 
wine,  asked  the  boy  what  he  would  have  to  drink.  The  boy 
replied,  "I'll  take  what  father  takes."  The  father,  realizing 
the  serious  situation,  quietly  beckoned  the  waiter  and  counter- 
manded the  order.  During  the  afternoon  when  he  went  to 
his  office  the  words  of  his  boy — "I'll  take  what  father  takes" 
— were  constantly  ringing  in  his  ears.  He  went  home  in  the 
evening  rather  troubled;  and,  after  having  dinner,  retired  to 
his  study.    But  he  could  do  no  work,  for  he  could  not  forget  the 


•    ACCEPTING  AND   CONFESSING  CHRIST  317 

words  of  his  boy — "I'll  take  what  father  takes" — and,  feeling 
that  he  could  bear  it  no  longer,  he  determined  to  settle  the 
matter.  He  knelt  down  and  prayed  to  God  for  guidance,  and 
from  that  night  he  resolved  that  he  would  never  touch  the 
drink  again,  nor  anything  else  which  might  be  a  source  of 
danger  to  others. 

Our  Cross. 
A  few  months  ago  a  young  woman  talked  to  me  about  com- 
ing into  my  church,  saying,  "I  wouldn't  join  such-and-such  a 
church ;  it's  too  strict ;  but  your  church  lets  people  dance, 
doesn't  it?"  I  doubt  if  I  made  it  clear  to  her  that  the  great 
'question  is  not  what  the  Christian  can  still  do  for  the  world, 
but  what  he  can  do  for  his  cross-bearing  Master.  Her  heart 
was  set  on  a  following  which  should  cost  her  nothing.  There 
is  room,  also,  to  question  the  heartiness  of  the  faith  of  a 
believer  who  talks  very  much  about  the  possibility  of  being  a 
Christian  outside  the  church.  Of  course  it  is  possible,  but  is 
it  fair?  Was  the  Master  secretly  crucified?  Did  he  slip 
through  life  with  no  public  bearing  of  the  sin  load?  If  the 
saved  soul  had  a  passion  for  its  Savior,  it  would  cry  out  for 
a  chance  to  declare  its  allegiance. — McAfee. 

Standing  By  the  Judge. 
The  jailer  telephoned  me  one  cold,  stormy  night  to  come 
and  see  a  boy  who  was  in  a  spasm  of  crying.  The  boy  knew 
me,  for  he  had  been  a  chronic  little  truant.  I  sat  down  on  the 
iron  floor  (we  have  better  places  for  little  boys  now),  put  my 
arm  around  him,  and  told  him  how  much  I  thought  of  him, 
and  how  I  despised  the  bad  things  he  did.  I  told  him  I  want- 
ed to  be  his  friend,  but  he  was  getting  both  himself  and  me  m 
trouble  if  he  "swiped  things,"  for  if  I  should  let  him  out,  and 
he  "swiped  things"  again,  the  officer  would  say,  "The  judge 
made  a  mistake  in  not  sending  that  kid  to  the  State  Industrial 
School,  where  he  couldn't  swipe  things."  And  if  he  kept  on 
doing  such  things,  how  could  I  keep  my  job?  He  stood  right 
up  in  the  cell,  and  declared  tearfully,  "I'll  stay  wid  yer,  judge," 
and  promised  he  would  never  again  do  anything  to  get  me 
into  trouble.  So  out  of  the  Jail  we  walked.  I  took  him  to  his 
mother,  a  poor,  struggling  woman,  toiling  all  day  to  feed  her 


318  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

family.  The  boy  went  to  school,  and  for  over  two  years 
brought  good  reports.  One  day  the  mother  walked  two  miles 
to  tell  me  what  a  changed  boy  Harry  was.  With  tears  in 
her  eyes  she  said,  "I  never  knew  just  why  he  changed  so,  till 
one  day,  when  I  was  sick,  and  he  had  been  so  sweet  and  kind, 
I  asked  him  about  it.  He  said,  'Well,  mother,  you  see,  it's 
this  way.  The  judge  is  my  friend,  he  is,  and  I  promised,  and 
I'm  a  going  to  stay  wid  him.'  "  Loyalty,  trust,  confidence, 
all  the  enobling  instincts  of  the  soul,  were  there,  and  I  played 
upon  them  with  this  happy  result. — Judge  Ben  Lindsay. 

God's  Way. 
Here  is  God's  way  of  converting  the  world.  He  gave  to 
Egypt  the  richest  earthly  gifts;  to  India  a  sleepless  sun;  to 
lovely  Greece,  mountain  and  valley  with  surrounding  seas 
that  pierced  it  as  if  to  sting  it  into  activity;  to  Italy,  its  skies 
of  brightness  and  its  fruitful  vineyards  with  its  treasures  of 
art  as  well ;  but  in  all  these  lands,  neither  climate  nor  physi- , 
cal  riches,  pyramid,  Parthenon  nor  Etruscan  art  could  save 
them  from  the  power  of  an  idolatrous  superstition  at  once 
abominable,  foul  and  rotten.  Nature  does  not  conquer  the 
world  to  God.  It  never  has.  It  never  will.  In  America  with 
its  vast,  abounding  wealth,  its  grand  expanse  of  prairie,  its 
reach  of  river,  and  its  exuberant  productiveness,  there  is  dan- 
ger that  our  riches  will  draw  us  away  from  God  and  fasten 
us  to  earth ;  that  they  will  make  us  not  only  rich  but  mean, 
not  onl}'"  wealthy  but  wicked.  The  grand  corrective  is  the 
cross  of  Christ,  seen  in  the  sanctuary  where  the  life  and  light 
of  God  are  exhibited  and  where  the  reverberation  of  the 
echoes  from  the  great  white  throne  are  heard !  The  ransomed 
and  transfigured  race  will,  from  the  heavenly  world,  look 
back,  not  to  the  teachings  of  tempest  and  earthquake,  but  to 
the  quiet  sanctuary,  to  its  word  and  sacrament,  and  to  nature 
and  Providence  as  interpreted  by  the  sanctuary. 

Bearing  Testimony. 
St.  Simeon  Stylites  of  Asia  Minor  could  stand  up  in  testi- 
mony of  his  faith,  and  his  way  of  doing  it  has  something  to 
commend  it  on  the  score  of  thoroughness,  since  he  stood  on 


ACCEPTING  AND  CONFESSING   CHRIST  319 

a  pillar  sixty-four  feet  high  for  thirty  years  for  the  edification 
of  the  crowds  that  came  to  see  the  saint  and  marvel  at  his 
singular  holiness;  but  it  is  positively  disheartening  to  behold 
the  shift  to  w^hich  some  are  put  v^ho  feel  it  their  duty  to 
"speak  a  vi^ord  for  Jesus."  Nothing  should  be  easier  to  a 
loyal  disciple.  What  Christian  would  not  leap  to  his  feet,  if 
the  unmistakable  call  came,  and  tell  how  much,  he,  a  sinner, 
owes  to  his  Savior? 


SERVICE  THIRTEEN— Wednesday  Evening 
God's  Power  to  Save 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XIII 


But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God. — John  i:i8. 

Ye  must  be  born  again. — John  S'-7- 

A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit 
will  I  put  within  you. — Ezek.  ^6:26. 

Therefore,  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  crea- 
ture.— -?  Cor.  3:17. 

So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit. — John  3:8. 

;And  you  hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins. — Eph.  2:1, 

And  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind. — Eph. 
4:23- 

Put  off  the  old  man. — Col.  j;p. 

For  whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world, 
*    *    *    even  our  faith. — i  John  5:4, 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

But   as   many   as   received   him,   to   them   gave   he   power   to 
become  the  sons  of  God. — John  1 :12. 

1.  He     gave     the     privilege     (margin) ;     "the     gift     of 

God." 

2.  The    right    (margin)  ;    adoption. 

3.  The  power;  regeneration. 

Ye  must  be  born  again. — John  3 :7. 

1.  Natural  birth  does  fit  for  the  spiritual  life. 

2.  Only  a  new  nature  can  live  the  new  life. 

3.  God's  Spirit  is  ready  to  bestow  it. 

A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put 
within  you. — Ezek,  36:26. 

1.  God  demands  it. 

2.  God  confers  it. 

3.  The    unregenerate    without   excuse. 

Therefore,  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creation. — 2 
Cor.  5:17. 

1.  Man's  part  is  to  accept  Christ. 

2.  God's  part  is  to  regenerate  him. 

3.  The  life  of  faith  is  the  life  of  a  twice-born  man. 

So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit. — John  3 :8. 

1.  A  sublime  mystery.  ; 

2.  A  glorious  fact. 

3.  Known  by  its  results. 

And  you  hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sin.. — Eph.  2:1. 

1.  The  sinner  spiritually  dead. 

2.  The  Spirit's  quickening  power. 

3.  Christians  living  witnesses  to  that  power. 

And  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind. — Eph.  4:23. 

1.  The  prime   requisite  for   Christian  living. 

2.  Attempts  to  live  the  new  life  with  the  old  nature. 

3.  The   new   nature  means   new   motives,   aims,   aspira- 

tions. 


324  THE   PASTOR   HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

Put  off  the  old  man.— Col.  3 :9. 

1.  Conversion  discards  the   old  life. 

2.  Puts  on  the  new  life. 

3.  This  process  is  progressive. 

For  whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world    *    ♦    ♦ 
even  our  faith. — 1  John  5:4. 

1.  The  new  life  one  of  conquest. 

2.  Over  the  world,  the  flesh,  the  devil. 

3.  The  reward  is  the  victor's  crown. 


SUGGESTIONS 

Moody's    methods   with   inquirers   continued: 

To  those  who  do  not  see  that  unbelief  is  the  greatest  sin, 
read  1  John  5  :9,  to  show  that  it  is  "giving  God  the  lie."  The 
man  who  calls  you  a  liar  could  hardly  commit  a  greater 
offense  against  you.  What,  then,  of  those  who  make  God  a 
liar?  When  a  man  said  to  me  in  the  inquiry  room,  "I  can't 
believe!"  I  answered  "Whom?"  He  replied,  with  embarrass- 
ment, "You  don't  understand  me.  I  have  intellectual  difficul- 
ties. I  can't  believe."  Again  I  said  "Whom?"  At  last,  seeing 
it  was  not  a  thing  but  God  that  he  had  disbelieved,  he  was 
led  to  faith.  Challenge  those  who  "can't  believe"  to  show  a 
broken  promise  of  God.  A  man  charged  me  with  preaching 
the  pernicious  doctrine  that  a  man  is  saved  by  simply  believ- 
ing that  a  man's  life  is  affected  by  what  he  believes.  A  ques- 
tion as  to  what  he  would  do  if  he  was  led  to  believe  that  the 
building  in  which  they  were  was  on  fire,  was  enough  to  show 
that  a  man's  conduct  was  affected  by  what  he  believed. 

To  those  who  stumbled  over  the  doctrine  of  instantaneous 
conversion,  Mr.  Moody  would  read  the  passages  that  speak 
of  conversion  as  a  "gift."  Surely  a  "gift"  can  be  instantan- 
eously received.  Show  them  also  the  passages  that  call  con- 
version a  "life."  There  is  surely  a  moment  when  "life"  begins. 
Read  to  them  also,  1  John  5:1.  Never  tell  a  man  he's  con- 
verted. When  he  has  been  instructed  and  has  become  sub- 
missive get  him  on  his  knees  beside  you,  and  pray  for  him 
and  get  him  to  pray  aloud  for  himself;  if  nothing  more,  to 
repeat  the  Syrophenician's  victorious  prayer,  "Lord  help  me," 
or  the  prayer  of  the  publican. 

In  response  to  the  question,  "How  can  the  'belief  of 
faith  be  shown  to  be  more  than  intellectual  belief?"  Mr. 
Moody  defined  faith  as  "assent  and  consent,"  the  latter  bring- 
ing in  the  will  in  submission.  "We  need,"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Moody,  "more  preaching  to  the  human  will."  There  should 
be  three  kinds  of  services,  one  kind  for  worship,  another  for 
teaching    (of  which   there   should  be   more  in   the   pulpits   on 


326  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Sunday  morning),  another  for  appeal  to  the  unsaved,  for 
which  last  Sunday  night  is  the  best  in  the  week.  Nothing 
should  be  allowed  to  crowd  out  the  Sunday  evening  gos- 
pel sermon,  which  should  always  be  followed  by  an  after- 
meeting  to  draw  the  net.  How  often,  after  a  powerful  ser- 
mon, when  souls  are  all  ready  to  decide,  there  comes,  in  place 
of  drawing  the  net,  the  cold  announcement,  "If  there  is 
anyone  here  greatly  concerned  about  his  soul  I  shall  be  glad 
to  see  him  in  my  study  next  Friday  night."  A  better  use  of 
the  "if"  is  to  say,  "Tf  there  is  any  one  who  cannot  remain 
to  the  after-meeting,  he  can  pass  out  while  we  sing;  but  we 
want  two  classes  especially  to  remain — namely,  Christians  who 
desire  that  souls  may  be  saved,  and  all  who  have  the  faintest 
wish  to  be  saved."  If  the  sermon  has  not  tired  the  people  out, 
few  will  go  out.  Some  preachers  try  the  inquiry  meeting  to 
gratify  some  of  their  members ;  but  in  some  such  fashion  as 
this,  "After  the  benediction  the  pastor  and  session  will  be  in 
the  adjoining  room,  and  if  any  one  is  greatly  concerned  about 
his  soul,  we  shall  be  glad  to  talk  and  pray  with  him."  You 
might  as  well  summon  him  before  a  justice  of  the  peace.  One 
will  go  before  a  session  when  he  is  ready  to  join  the  church, 
but  not  as  a  trembling  inquirer.  When  no  one  responds,  the 
pastor  says  profoundly,  "I  told  you  so.  These  after-meetings 
will  not  work  in  our  church." 

Mr.  Moody  commended  as  various  methods  for  various  local- 
ities and  degrees  of  interest,  the  inquiry  room,  the  altar, 
"rising  for  prayers"  while  the  invitation  is  softly  sung — any 
way  by  which  the  will  may  act  in  decision  and  open  confession. 
When  the  interest  is  strong  and  there  is  a  smaller  room 
adjoining  the  audience-room,  he  would  have  inquirers  invited 
(with  workers),  into  that,  while  others  remain  in  the  main 
room  to  pray.  In  other  cases  all  might  be  kept  in  the  main 
room,  the  serious  persons  being  reached  by  Christians  going 
to  them  for  conversation  and  prayer,  with  or  without  the 
invitation  to  make  their  decision  by  rising.  Workers  may  be 
prepared  for  inquiry  work  by  devoting  prayer-meeting  services 
and  Sabbath  morning  services,  for  a  few  weeks,  to  this  work. — 
NorthHeld  Evangelistic  Conference. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Is  regeneration  merely  a  development  of  the  spiritual  life 
from  a  germ  of  good  which  is  found  in  the  heart  of  every 
man?  If  this  were  so,  conversion  would  be  needless  and  the 
new  birth  a  myth.  Certain  religious  teachers  appear  to  be 
intent  on  reducing  religion  to  a  system  of  cold  psychology, 
and  explaining  all  spiritual  life  and  experience  by  a  scientific 
process. 

According  to  the  Bible  the  salvation  of  the  soul  from  sin 
is  a  supernatural  work,  and  a  natural  development,  "That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit." 

A  man  may  be  a  splendid  specimen  of  a  worldly  man  with- 
out any  spiritual  life  at  all.  He  may  have  a  robust  physical 
frame,  a  giant  intellect  thoroughly  cultivated,  he  may  possess 
a  good  moral  character,  and  not  be  spiritual.  There  are  many 
excellent  people  in  every  community  who  have  made  much 
of  themselves  in  every  respect  except  spiritually,  and  as  to 
their  spiritual  nature  they  are  dead.  There  is  a  better  life,  a 
higher  life,  a  life  which  is  life  indeed.  It  is  the  life  of  God 
in  the  soul  of  man.  "He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,  and  he 
that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  liU,"— Evangelical  Messenger. 

We  are  infallibly  changed  into  the  same  image.  The  con- 
dition is  that  we  reflect  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  Christ. 
That  condition  I  shall  speak  of  in  a  moment;  but  one  word 
requires  an  explanation  in  passing.  "Reflecting  in  a  mirror  the 
glory  of  the  Lord."  What  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord?  The 
word  "glory"  suggests  efifulgence — radiance.  It  recalls  the 
halo  that  the  old  masters  delighted  to  p^int  around  the  heads 
of  their  saints  and  Ecce  Homos.  But  this  is  all  material. 
What  does  that  halo,  that  radiance  symbolize?  It  symbolizes 
the  most  radiant  and  beautiful  thing  in  man,  as  in  the  Man 
Christ  Jesus;  and  that  is  character.  Character,  The  glory 
of  Christ  is  in  character. — Professor  Drummond. 


328  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

James  Chalmers,  the  martyred  missionary  of  New  Guinea, 
in  addressing  a  large  meeting  in  London,  said,  "I  have  had 
twenty-one  years'  experience  among  the  South  Sea  Islanders, 
and  for  at  least  nine  years  of  my  life  I  have  lived  with  the 
savages  of  New  Guinea.  I  have  seen  the  semi-civilized  and 
the  uncivilized ;  I  have  lived  with  the  Christian  native,  and 
I  have  lived,  dined  and  slept  with  the  cannibal.  But  I  have 
never  yet  met  a  single  man  or  woman,  nor  a  single  people  that 
your  civilization  without  Christianity  has  civilized.  Wher- 
ever there  has  been  the  slightest  spark  of  civilized  life  in  the 
South  Seas,  it  has  been  because  the  gospel  has  been  preached 
there;  and  wherever  you  find  in  the  island  of  New  Guinea  a 
friendly  people  that  will  welcome  you,  there  the  missionaries 
of  the  cross  have  been  preaching  Christ." — Selected. 

Probably  there  is  nowhere  on  the  globe  so  marked  a  cli- 
matic boundary  as  that  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  in 
both  Washington  and  Oregon.  West  of  this  boundary  the 
winters  are  mild,  and  the  summers  cool  and  showery;  east 
of  it  the  winters  are  sharp  and  dry,  and  the  summers  very 
hot.  On  one  side  are  gigantic  firs  and  cedars,  while  on 
the  other  all  are  of  poor  size  and  condition.  Even  the 
flowers  are  of  new  species,  and  all  the  atmospheric  conditions 
are  changed.  The  line  that  lies  between  the  unsaved  and  the 
saved  once  crossed,  what  changes  should  be  manifested!  "If 
any  man  be  in  Christ  Jesus  he  is  a  new  creation;  old  things 
have  passed  away ;  lo,  all  things  have  become  new." — Selected. 

I  have  seen  a  branch  tied  to  a  bleeding  tree  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  grafted  into  its  wounded  body,  and  thus  both 
might  be  one.  Yet  no  incorporation  had  followed;  there  was 
no  living  union ;  spring  came  singing  and  with  her  fingers 
opened  all  the  buds;  and  summer  came  with  her  dewy  nights 
and  sunny  days,  and  brought  out  all  the  flowers ;  and  brown 
autumn  came  to  shake  the  trees  and  reap  the  fields  and  with 
dances  and  mirth  to  hold  the  "harvest-home ;"  but  that  unhappy 
branch  bore  no  fruit,  nor  flower  nor  even  leaf.  Just  held  on 
by  dead  clay  and  rotting  cords,  it  stuck  to  the  living  tree,  a 
withered  and  unsightly  thing.  So  also  is  it  with  many  who 
have  a  "name  to  live  and  are  dead." — Thomas  Guthrie. 


•    ■.  GOD'S    POWER   TO   SAVE  329 

When  I  had  wholly  hazarded  my  life  upon  what  I  was 
doing,  my  whole  spirit  seemed  to  me  to  suddenly  break  through 
the  gates  of  hell,  and  to  be  taken  up  into  the  arms  and  the 
heart  of  God.  I  can  compare  it  to  nothing  else  but  the  resur- 
rection at  the  last  day.  For  then  with  all  reverence  I  say  it, 
with  the  eyes  of  my  spirit  I  saw  God. — Behmen. 

The  conversion  of  man  is  a  work  of  the  creative  Spirit  of 
God. — Bishop  Martensen. 

The  whole  life  of  a  man  is  a  continued  conversion  to  God, 
in  which  he  is  perpetually  humbled  under  sense  of  sin,  and 
draws  nearer  and  nearer  to  God,  with  more  fervent  faith  and 
love,  and  daily  walks  closer  and  closer  with  the  Lord,  endeav- 
oring at  perfection.  *  *  *  ^j^^j  Qq^^  doth,  as  it  were,  act 
over  and  over  again  his  work  in  the  heart,  forming  his  people 
more  exactly  than  before.  And  therefore  no  wonder  they 
meet  with  something  like  a  second,  yea,  and  a  third  and  fourth 
conversion,  especially  where  there  are  backslidings. — Fraser  of 
Brea. 

As  the  work  of  cleansing  and  renewing  the  heart  is  the  work 
of  God,  his  almighty  power  can  perform  it  in  a  moment,  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  And  as  it  is  this  moment  our  duty 
to  love  God  with  all  our  heart  and  we  cannot  do  this  till  he 
cleans  our  hearts,  consequently  he  is  ready  to  do  it  this 
moment,  because  he  wills  that  we  should  in  this  moment  love 
him.  Therefore,  we  may  justly  say,  "Now  is  the  accepted 
time,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  He  who  in  the  beginning 
caused  light  in  a  moment  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  can  in  a 
moment  shine  into  our  hearts,  and  give  us  to  see  the  light  of 
his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  moment,  there- 
fore, we  may  be  emptied  of  sin,  and  filled  with  holiness. — 
Michigan  Christian  Advocate. 

"Till  we  attain  unto  the  unity  of  faith,  and  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Son  of  God."  Between  belief  and  faith  comes 
grace.  You  cannot  pass  from  faith  unto  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God  without  something  which  we  appropriate — the 
grace  of  Christ.  What  is  grace?  Grace  is  more  than  a  nega- 
tion, more  than  a  stopping  of  the  enmity  of  God,  more  than 
favor,    more    than    sentiment.     Grace    is    a    thing    of    energy. 


330  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

V 

Look  in  the  Bible — wherever  you  find  grace  mentioned.  Grace 
is  the  divine  energy  of  holiness  issuing  in  the  ministry  of 
love,  in  quest  of  the  unlovely,  that  it  might  by  the  communica- 
tion of  itself  transform  the  unlovely  into  its  own  loveliness. — 
Joivett. 

When  I  first  saw  the  inhabitants  of  Fernando  Po.,  observed 
their  filthiness,  and  heard  their  speech,  like  the  grunting  of 
brute  animals,  I  confess  I  could  not  imagine  their  becoming 
Christians;  but  a  little  later  I  was  privileged  to  visit  a  Chris- 
tian town  wholly  inhabited  by  this  tribe,  and  in  their  own 
church  in  the  midst  of  their  village  of  cleanly  homes  I  heard 
them  sing  the  familiar  hymns  of  Christendom  and  offer  rever- 
ent, intelligent  prayer.  Then  I  knew  that  there  is  no  humanity 
too  low  for  the  gospel  to  uplift. — Missionary  Convention  Report. 

Professor  Lindley,  an  authority  on  the  subject,  tells  us, 
"The  stock  has  an  influence  on  the  fruit,  as,  for  example, 
pears  are  changed  entirely  when  placed  on  quince  roots.  Pears 
grafted  on  the  wild  species,  apples  on  crabs,  or  peaches  on 
peaches,  produce  scions  which  in  regard  to  fertility  are  in 
exactly  the  same  state  as  if  not  grafted  at  all.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  great  increase  of  fertility  results  from  grafting 
pears  on  quinces,  peaches  on  plums,  apples  on  the  thorn,  and 
the  like." 

Says  the  Christ  himself,  "Ye  must  be  born  again."  Is  the 
infusion  of  the  new  life  thus  not  a  necessity  in  grace  as  well 
as  in  the  natural  world?  What  man  can  not  do  for  himself 
or  for  another  "the  Son  of  Man,  who  is  in  heaven"  easily  and 
quickly  accomplishes   for  both. — The  Homiletic   Reviezv. 

The  Rev.  J.  Hunt,  when  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  was 
seized  with  a  fever  that  threatened  to  prove  fatal.  Death 
was  brought  to  his  thoughts,  with  the  deep  conviction  of  his 
unfitness  for  the  solemn  change.  In  referring,  years  after, 
to  this  time,  he  says,  "I  thought  it  would  be  of  no  use  to 
promise  the  Lord  I  would  serve  him  if  he  would  spare  me,  as 
I  had  often  made  such  promises  and  broken  them.  The  only 
way  appeared  to  me  to  begin  to  serve  God  there  and  then, 
according  to   the  light   I   had.     So   I    fell   on    my   knees,   and 


GOD'S    POWER   TO   SAVE  331 

began  to  pray.  After  prayer  I  read  my  Bible  in  earnest  and 
sought  the  Savior.  The  conviction  thus  awakened,  and  prompt- 
ly yielded  to,   ripened  into  true   conversion." — Leaflet. 

Walking  along  the  street  one  day,  a  gardener  passed  a  heap 
of  rubbish,  partly  burned,  thrown  into  the  road.  He  noticed 
a  root  that  seemed  dead  and  withered  but  he  took  it  home, 
examined  it,  and  tended  it  after  planting.  It  prospered  and 
grew  till,  after  years  of  care,  a  majestic  vine  covered  with 
clusters  of  grapes  was  the  result.  No  one  is  so  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sin  but  that  he  may,  under  the  gardener's  care, 
become  a  fruitful  vine.  No  human  life  is  hopelessly  lost 
while  the  love  of  God  seeks  the  unsaved. — The  Ram's  Horn. 

God  is  all  for  quality;  man  is  for  quantity.  But  the  imme- 
diate need  of  the  world  at  this  moment  is  not  more  of  us,  but 
if  I  may  use  the  expression,  a  better  brand  of  us.  To  secure 
ten  men  of  an  improved  type  would  be  better  than  if  we  had 
ten  thousand  of  the  average  Christians  distributed  all  over 
the  world.  There  is  such  a  thing  in  the  evangelistic  sense 
as  winning  the  whole  world  and  losing  our  own  soul.  And 
our  first  consideration  is  our  own  life,  our  spiritual  relations 
to  God,  our  own  likeness  to  Christ,  And  I  am  anxious  for 
a  few  moments  to  look  at  the  right  and  the  wrong 
way  of  becoming  better  men ;  the  right  and  the  wrong  way 
of  sanctification.  One  of  the  futile  methods  of  sanctifying 
ourselves  is  trying,  effort,  struggle,  agonizing.  I  suppose  you 
have  all  tried  that,  and  I  appeal  to  your  own  life  when  I  ask 
if  it  has  not  failed.  Crossing  the  Atlantic  the  other  day  the 
Etruria,  in  which  I  was  sailing,  suddenly  stopped  in  mid- 
ocean — something  had  suddenly  broken  down.  There  were 
a  thousand  people  on  board  that  ship.  Do  you  think  we  could 
have  made  it  go  on  if  we  had  all  gathered  together  and  pushed 
against  the  sides  or  against  the  masts?  When  a  man  hopes 
to  sanctify  himself  by  trying,  he  is  like  a  man  trying  to  make 
the  boat  go  that  carries  him  by  pushing  it;  he  is  like  a  man 
drowning  in  the  water  and  trying  to  save  himself  by  pulling 
the  hair  of  his  own  head.  It  is  impossible.  Christ  held  up 
that  mode  of  sanctification  to  ridicule  when  he  said,  "Which 


332  THE   PASTOR  ^IS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one  cubic  to  his  stature?"  Put 
down  that  method  forever  as  being  futile. — Prof.  Henry  Drum- 
mond. 

The  relationship  between  you  and  him  must  be  one  of  life. 
How  is  it  established?  His  Spirit  is  pressing  upon  and  besieg- 
ing our  spirits  every  moment  as  really  as  the  atmosphere 
presses  upon  our  bodies.  As  a  man  conceivably  may  refuse 
to  breathe  the  physical  atmosphere,  so  he  may  refuse  to 
respond  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  But  he  can  respond  to  it,  and 
in  that  response  consists  his  life  and  growing  strength.  When 
the  spirit  of  a  man  first  yields  itself  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
and  allows  him  to  penetrate  and  dominate  it,  there  is  estab- 
lished a  vital  relationship. — Selected. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Law  of  the  Sudden  Leap. 
In  Minnesota  today  we  have  seven  new  varieties  of  bread 
corn.  This  discovery  of  the  law  of  the  sudden  leap,  and  the 
fixed  results  explains  the  Shasta  daisy,  the  new  oat  in  England, 
the  new  orange  and  fig  in  California,  the  new  flowers  in 
Holland — indeed,  the  future  of  the  vineyard,  the  orchard,  and 
cornfield  holds  more  hope  than  the  future  of  man's  flight 
through  the  air,  or  his  mastery  of  the  poles.  Gone  Malthus' 
fear  of  starving  populations !  Gone  the  thought  that  this  is 
an  old,  worn-out  world.  Man  has  become  again  an  eager 
youth,  out  in  the  cornfields,  keeping  his  tryst  with  God.  The 
one  thing  that  has  beaten  our  railway  men  and  merchants  is 
the  fact  that  they  have  not  been  able  to  keep  up  with  the 
growth  of  their  country.  Trust  your  highest  hopes,  and 
tomorrow  they  will  be  found  to  have  fallen  short  of  the 
reality.  Afraid?  Hope  thou  in  God.  Against  a  stone  wall? 
A  gate  of  pearl  shall  open.  Fallen  the  rich  flowers  by  life's 
untimely  frost?  Lo,  from  the  ground  there  blossoms  red  life 
that  shall  endless  be.  As  for  the  individual,  the  very  child 
shall  be  born  a  hundred  years  old  through  the  accumulated 
virtues  of  its  parents.  As  for  the  country,  the  nation  shall  be 
born  in  a  day  out  of  selfishness,  into  a  passion  of  good  will, 
sympathy  to  the  poor,  and  in  a  single  year  make  more  prog- 
ress than  in  a  century.  It  could  not  be  otherwise.  God  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  people.  Out  of  the  very  stones  of  the  street 
he  can  raise  up  prophets  of  a  new  era,  poets  with  a  brighter 
vision,  reformers  with  a  keener  sword,  patriots  with  a  new 
passion  for  liberty.  For  if  God  achieves  one  kind  of  prog- 
ress through  long  time  and  slow  processes  he  achieves  anoth- 
er form  of  progress  by  the  principle  of  the  sudden  leap  in 
nature  and  life. — Dr.  Hillis,  in  the  Homiletic  Review. 

The  Transforming  Power  of  the  Gospel. 
The  power  of  the  gospel  to  awaken  dormant  faculties,  and 
to  inspire  with  new  life  those  who  are  degraded  intellectually 


334  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

and  morally,  has  been  witnessed  in  all  Christian  lands.  But 
cases  of  this  kind  come  more  frequently  under  observation 
in  uncivilized  and  pagan  communities,  where  the  light  of 
divine  truth  breaks  suddenly  upon  souls  sunken  in  ignorance 
and  sin.  Rev.  Mr.  Kilbon,  of  Amanzimtote,  sends  an  account 
of  one  of  the  graduates  from  their  theological  school  who, 
when  he  came  to  them  five  years  ago,  was  barely  able  to  spell 
out  the  words  of  his  Bible.  His  mind  was  wholly  untrained, 
and  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  take  in  much  or  to  give  out 
what  he  had  taken  in.  I^ittle  was  expected  of  him,  and  he  was 
frankly  told  that  he  could  never  expect  to  be  given  a  certificate 
of  graduation  from  the  theological  school.  But  he  stayed  on, 
supporting  himself  almost  entirely.  He  was  turned  away 
largely  because  he  came  from  a  purely  heathen  district  to 
which  he  might  possibly  return  and  be  of  some  service.  But 
filled  with  a  new  love  and  a  great  purpose,  his  powers  awoke. 
He  has  proved  himself  a  diligent  and  hard  worker,  both  with 
brain  and  muscle,  and  has  given  all  his  teachers  great  satis- 
faction ;  so  that  Mr.  Kilbon  can  say,  "We  seldom  have  had 
greater  pleasure  in  handing  a  certificate  to  one  who  has  pur- 
sued a  course  in  the  school  than  we  had  in  giving  one  to  this 
young  man."  So  in  all  lands,  among  all  classes  of  people,  the 
gospel  of  Christ  awakens  mind  and  heart,  and  inspires  to  a 
stronger  and  purer  life. —  The  Missionary  Herald. 

"Christ  in  Me." 
When  St.  Augustine  was  a  young  man  he  was  won  from 
a  profligate  life.  One  day  soon  after,  a  boon  companion  met  him, 
when  Augustine  ran  from  him.  "Augustine,  it  is  I !"  rang 
out  after  him.  But  the  answer  came  back,  "But  I  am  not 
Augustine.     Augustine  is  dead!"  (Rom.  6:11.) 

Brute  Becomes  Saint. 

Africaner  was  known  as  the  "Bonaparte  of  South  Africa." 
This  notorious  Hottentot  had  become  the  terror  of  the  whole 
country.     He  waged  cruel  and  relentless  wars  with  the  Boers. 

In  1817  Moffat,  the  noted  missionary,  started  for  his  kraal — 
his  friends  warned  him  that  Africaner  would  make  a  drum- 
skin  of  his  hide  and  a  drinking  cup  of  his  skull. 


GOD'S    POWER  TO   SAVE  335 

He  was  a  murderer  and  a  fugitive.  A  price  was  set  upon 
his  head,  but  no  one  would  attempt  to  capture  him. 

Robert  Moffat  won  this  monster  and  until  his  death  he  was 
loyalty  itself,  and  the  journey  to  Cape  Town  is  one  of  the 
romances  of  history. 

A  man  whose  uncle  he  had  killed  saw  him,  and  witnessing 
the  change  in  his  life,  exclaimed,  "O  God,  what  cannot  thy 
grace  do !     What  a  miracle  of  thy  power !" 

The  sensation  produced  by  Africaner's  appearance  at  Cape 
Town  defies  description.  The  lion  had  become  a  lamb.  The 
governor  sent  for  him,  and  the  reward  offered  for  the  seizure 
of  the  outlaw  was  actually  spent  in  gifts  for  himself  and 
presents  for  his  people. 

Africaner  went  with  Moffat  on  his  mission  to  the  Bschuanas. 
He  helped  him  move  his  goods  to  Lattakoo,  and  then  went 
back  for  his  own  movables,  that  he  might  settle  beside  his 
beloved  teacher.  But  his  end  was  near  and  he  died  shortly 
after  at  his  old  kraal. 

A  Master  Musician. 

There  is  an  old  legend  of  an  instrument  which  hung  upon 
a  castle  wall.  Its  strings  were  broken.  It  was  covered  with 
dust.  No  one  could  put  it  in  order  or  play  upon  it.  But  one 
day  a  stranger  came  to  the  castle.  He  saw  the  instrument. 
Taking  it  down,  he  brushed  the  dust  from  it,  tenderly  reset  the 
broken  strings,  and  then  played  upon  it;  and  wonderful  music 
filled  the  castle.  Every  human  soul  in  its  renewed  state  is 
such  a  harp  with  broken  strings.  It  is  capable  of  giving  forth 
richest  melodies,  but  first  it  must  be  restored.  And  no  human 
skill  can  do  this.  It  is  not  culture  merely  that  we  need,  not 
education  alone,  not  self-discipline  only.  One  must  come  who 
can  mend  the  broken  instrument,  reset  the  strings  and  put 
them  in  tune,  and  then  play  upon  it.  The  only  one  who  can 
do  this  is  the  maker  of  the  harp,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We 
must  submit  our  lives  to  him.  He  can  take  our  sinful  hearts 
and  change  them.  He  can  bring  the  jangled  strings  of  our 
life  into  tune,  so  that  when  his  fingers  play  upon  them  they 
will  give  forth  sweet  music. 


336  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Transformed. 

A  good  many  years  ago  a  cheap  traveling  show  came  to  the 
city  of  Scranton,  Pa.  Among  the  performers  was  a  drunken 
negro  named  Joe,  whose  business  it  was  to  dance  on  broken 
glass  and  burning  coals,  singing,  howling  and  turning  hand- 
springs.    No  lower  type  of  man  apparently  could  be  found. 

But  one  stormy  night,  when  the  attendance  at  the  show 
was  small,  somebody  took  him,  drunk  as  he  was,  to  a  quiet 
room,  and  there  talked  to  him  and  to  one  or  two  other  out- 
casts, of  their  wasted  lives,  and  of  Christ,  who  could  help  them. 

Joe  was  sobered  and  awed.  He  listened  in  silence,  and 
the  next  morning  gave  up  his  place  in  the  show.  Coming  back 
to  the  little  mission  house  he  begged  humbly  for  a  chance 
to  lead  a  different  life. 

It  was  given  to  him.  His  friend  set  him  to  work.  He 
proved  to  be  a  quick-witted  fellow,  earnest,  affectionate  and 
always  merry.  He  could  read  and  write  and  so  anxious  was 
he  to  do  work  for  Christ  in  the  world  that  he  was  sent  to 
Mr.   Moody's  training  school  in   Chicago. 

His  grandfather  had  come  from  the  Congo,  and  Joe  had 
learned  the  tongue  of  his  people  in  his  childhood.  He  asked 
to  be  sent  to  the  country  of  his  ancestors  to  work  for  God. 
He  has  been  in  the  heart  of  Africa  for  many  years,  sent 
by  the  Southern  Presbyterian  church,  to  help  civilize  and 
Christianize  the  natives. 

Another  worker  in  the  same  field,  a  man  distinguished  for 
his  learning  and  eloquence,  says  of  him,  "He  is  remarkable 
for  his  business  ability,  and  in  tropical  agriculture  is  a  past 
master.  No  one  is  more  successful  in  teaching  habits  of  civil- 
ized life  to  the  natives.  He  has  wonderful  seH-control.  I 
never  have  seen  him  lose  his  temper.  His  faith  is  the  simplest 
and  sincerest  I  have  ever  known." 

What  if,  on  that  stormy  night  in  Scranton,  that  nameless 
somebody  who  saw  the  poor  drunken  black  clown  had  turned 
away  with  the  thought  that  he  was  not  worth  saving? 


GOD'S    POWER   TO   SAVE  337 


Behind  the   Bars. 


One  Sunday  afternoon  the  Holy  Spirit  was  pleased  to  use 
me  in  the  conversion  of  a  young  girl,  who  had  been  confined 
in  a  cell  in  the  police  station  the  previous  night. 

As  I  spoke  to  her  through  the  iron  bars,  she  looked  me 
very  frankly  in  the  face,  and  answered  all  my  questions.  She 
told  me  she  was  fourteen  years  old ;  her  mother  was  a  Chris- 
tian (Swedish  Baptist),  and  her  father  was  once  a  Christian, 
but  for  over  a  year  had  been  drinking.  For  a  year  her  father 
had  obliged  her  to  work  in  an  ungodly  family,  where  she  had 
no  opportunity  of  attending  church  or  Sunday  school.  She 
used  to  pray  when  she  lived  at  home,  but  for  a  long  time 
she  had  even  neglected  that.  She  was  accused  of  taking  over 
a  hundred  dollars  from  a  drawer,  which  was  locked,  but  she 
said  she  could  not  have  opened  the  drawer  if  she  had  wanted 
to,  as  she  had  no  key.  She  had  found  a  silver  dollar  on  a 
shelf  and  neglected  to  return  it  to  the  owner  for  several  hours. 
In  this  she  felt  she  had  done  wrong. 

I  asked  her  if  she  felt  that  her  heart  was  full  of  sin,  and 
she  confessed  that  it  was  and  burst  into  tears.  After  talking 
for  a  little  about  her  need  of  a  new  heart,  and  of  Christ's  love 
for  her,  I  asked  her  if  she  would  like  to  have  Jesus  forgive 
all  her  sins,  and  give  her  a  new  heart.  She  answered  that  she 
would,  and  I  read  her  a  verse  or  two  of  the  promise  from 
the  Word  of  God.  "Shall  we  kneel  down  and  ask  God  to  for- 
give you  and  save  you?"  I  asked.  "Yes."  We  knelt  (she 
inside  the  iron  bars  and  I  outside),  and  after  lifting  my  heart 
earnestly  to  our  Lord  in  prayer  for  this  child,  I  asked  her 
to  pray.  I  think  I  never  heard  a  more  earnest  prayer.  It  was 
a  crying  out  of  the  soul  in  words  like  these:  "O  Lord,  come 
now  and  make  my  heart  clean.  O  Lord,  forgive  my  sinful 
heart  and  help  me  not  to  sin  any  more.  O  come  now  and 
save  me,  and  help  me  to  live  a  Christian  life."  "Now,"  I  said, 
"do  you  believe  Jesus  heard  your  prayer?"  "Yes."  "Do  you 
believe  he  has  given  you  the  new  heart  you  asked  him  for?" 
"Yes."  "What  will  you  do  when  you  go  home ;  are  you  going 
lo  tell  your  father  and  mother  that  you  have  taken  the  Lord 
Jesus?"    "Yes,  I  will"     "Will  you  pray  every  day?"    "Yes." 


338  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

I  gave  her  a  testament  which  she  promised  to  read  every  day. 
I  left  the  cell,  to  prepare  in  a  side  room  to  go  out,  and  as  I 
passed  by  her  cell,  she  was  on  her  knees  beside  the  little  iron 
bed,  with  her  face  buried  in  her  hands.  What  a  sweet  sight  it 
was  and  how  I  thanked  God  for  it! 

Five  days  after,  I  went  to  her  home  to  see  her  mother,  and 
found  the  dear  child  at  home.  She  told  me  that  she  was 
acquitted  on  Monday  morning  as  soon  as  she  had  her  trial. 
But  the  best  words  she  spoke  were  these :  "I  prayed  all  that 
night  in  the  cell,  and  I  just  felt  that  Jesus  was  there ;  and 
I  know  he  came  and  took  my  heart." 

With  tears  of  gratitude  flowing  down  her  cheeks,  the  mother 
told  me  about  her  daughter  coming  home,  and  showing  the 
testament,  and  that  she  had  been  praying  ever  since.  We 
have  been  working  and  praying  for  the  return  of  the  drunken 
father  to  his  God,  and  today  I  received  the  blessed  news  that 
our  prayers  are  answered.  "Not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but 
by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Zech.  4;  6. — Record  of 
Christian  Work. 

The  Change  in  Him. 

An  Oxford  man  who  was  conducting  a  most  profitable  work 
for  students  in  connection  with  the  government  college  hostels 
at  Allahabad,  told  me  of  a  Hindu  student  with  whom  he  had 
been  privately  reading  the  Bible  for  over  a  year.  He  had  not 
mentioned  to  the  student  the  subject  of  his  personal  accept- 
ance of  Christianity.  He  had  noticed,  however,  certain  changes 
in  the  student's  life.  At  the  beginning  of  the  second  year  of 
study,  he  asked  his  Hindu  scholar  what  impression  he  had 
gained  from  his  reading.  He  answered,  "The  influence  I  have 
gained  is  not  one  of  thought  merely;  it  has  changed  my  life 
and  my  life-work." — Century  Magazine. 

The  Unfinished  Sermon. 
The  Rev.  R.  J.  Campbell,  now  of  the  City  Temple,  London 
once  speaking  in  his  own  church  in  Brighton,  when  at  the  close 
of  the  sermon  a  man  came  into  the  vestry  and  said,  "Excuse 
me,  sir;  did  you  finish  your  sermon  just  now?"  Mr.  Campbell 
said  he  thought  so.  "Oh,"  he  said,  "you  did  not.  You  told 
me   exactly  what   my   life   was   once.    You    told    me   all    the 


GOD'S    POWER  TO   SAVE  "   339 

beauty  and  the  winsomeness  and  the  power  of  Christ,  but  you 
did  not  tell  me  how  to  bring-  the  two  together."  The  preacher 
said,  "I  will  never  make  that  mistake  again."  The  man 
went  on  to  tell  his  story:  "I  am  a  workingman;  I  was  once 
a  drunken  sot,  and  was  picked  up  out  of  the  gutter.  I  felt  the 
sudden  liberation  at  the  cross  and  was  soundly  converted  to 
Christ.  I  thought  all  my  struggle  with  my  old-time  craving 
would  be  gone  at  once.  But  it  was  not.  I  had  to  get  my 
living.  I  had  to  go  past  the  place  where  the  gin  was  sold, 
and  I  could  not  pass  it.  After  falling  and  failing,  and  failing 
and  falling,  till  even  my  rescuers  who  had  brought  me  to  Jesus 
had  despaired  of  me,  I  knelt  down  in  the  street  myself  and 
raised  my  hands  to  heaven  and  said,  'Lord  Jesus,  thou  hast 
called  me.  Keep  me.  I  claim  thy  Spirit.'  That  was  years 
ago.  I  am  a  free  man  now,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
That  is  how  it  was  done." 

"A  New  Man." 
Three  generations  ago  a  young  Jew  named  Mendel  Ayas  liv- 
ing in  Germany.  He  became  a  Christian,  and  the  truth  of 
Christ  came  to  him  with  such  transforming  effect  that  he  took 
a  new  name  at  his  baptism  and  called  himself  Neander,  which 
means,  "a  new  man,"  and  by  this  name  he  is  known  as  the 
great  church  historian. 

Cataclysmic  Conversions. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  mountain?"  I  asked. 
"Blow  it  up,"  he  replied,  as  though  a  well-developed  mountain 
was  of  no  more  importance  than  a  pebble  in  his  path. 

That  graphically  tells  the  story  of  just  how  the  new  trans- 
continental is  being  built.  And  the  blowing  up  of  mountains  in 
these  days  of  powder  and  dynamite  is  not  a  myth.  In  the 
mountain  and  wilderness  regions  "coyote  holes"  are  being  fired 
every  day,  and  one  can  sometimes  hear  the  explosion  thirty 
miles  away.  I  was  present  at  one  of  these  events.  Four 
thousands  yards  of  rock  stood  in  the  path  of  the  trans- 
continental. A  curve  would  have  taken  one  around  the  base 
of  it.  But  "orders  are  orders,"  and  the  "coyote'*  was  dug, 
A  soft  seam  was  found  in  the  mountain  of  rock,  and  the  tedious 
task  of  drilling  into  its  heart  was  begun.     When   completed. 


340  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST- 

the  "coyote"  was  a  tunnel  about  four  feet  square  running  back 
into  the  rock  for  fifty  feet,  where  it  terminated  in  a  chamber. 
It  took  half  a  hundred  men  to  carry  in  the  explosives.  One 
hundred  and  twenty-five  barrels  of  powder  were  dumped  into 
sacks,  and  the  sacks  packed  in  the  chamber,  and  with  these 
three  cases  of  dynamite  of  fifty  pounds  each.  Electric  wires 
and  fuses  were  then  connected  with  the  mine,  and  after  that 
the  face  of  the  tunnel  was  rammed  solid  with  rock  and  earth. 
When  the  time  came  for  the  terrific  explosion,  there  was  not 
a  soul  within  half  a  mile  of  the  mountain. 

And  then  a  lightning  flash  passed  along  the  wire.  One 
minute — two — three — five  passed,  while  in  the  bowels  of  the 
mountain  the  fuse  was  sizzling  to  its  end.  There  was  a  rumb- 
ling and  a  jarring,  as  if  the  earth  were  convulsed  under  our 
feet ;  volumes  of  dense  black  smoke  shot  upward,  shutting 
the  mountain  in,  in  an  impenetrable  pall  of  gloom ;  and  in  an 
instant  these  rolling,  twisting  volumes  of  black  smoke  became 
lurid,  and  then  it  was  as  if  all  the  guns  of  all  the  navies  of  the 
world  had  exploded  close  to  our  ears.  And,  when  it  was  all 
over,  the  granite  monster  that  had  stood  there  for  unnumbered 
centuries  had,  as  the  engineer  rather  poetically  expressed  it, 
"made  way  for  the  new  trans-continental." — James  Oliver  Curwell, 
in  Putnam's  and  the  Reader. 

The  Secret  of  Christ's  Power. 

George  Adam  Smith  reports  the  following  message  from  a 
prince  of  the  Sikhs  in  India:  "Tell  the  sahib  (Smith)  that  I 
know  Christianity  to  be  a  wonderful  religion,  for  your  Jesus 
did  more  than  teach  and  do  wonderful  works.  I  understand 
his  saying,  'Whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  the  right  cheek,  turn 
to  him  the  other  also,'  for  he  has  illustrated  it  himself  when  he 
was  on  the  cross.  And  God  smote  him  on  the  cheek, 
and  he  lifted  his  other  cheek  to  God  and  said,  'I  will  take  more; 
I  will  take  all  that  thou  givest  me,'  and  that  was  very  won- 
derful; that  was  the  most  wonderful  thing  that  ever  happened 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  that  is  why  God  has  spread 
the  name  of  your  Lord  so  far  abroad." 


GOD'S    POWER   TO   SAVE  341 

A  Miracle  of  Grace. 

There  came  one  day  to  a  small  town  in  a  western  state  a 
man  who  was  more  than  anything  else  a  tramp.  Early  one 
morning  he  came  to  the  back  door  of  the  house  of  Mr.  K.,-look- 
ing  very  much  distressed  and  plainly  showing  that  he  had  found 
a  place  to  sleep  the  night  before  in  some  stable  or  barn.  In  that 
condition,  and  feeling  unusually  cast  down,  he  asked  the  head 
of  the  house,  who  was  a  good  Christian  man,  if  he  could  not 
give  him  some  work  to  do  by  which  he  could  earn  his  break- 
fast. Something  in  the  poor  fellow's  manner  or  voice  or  look 
aroused  the  sympathy  of  Mr.  K.,  and  he  replied,  "Yes,  but 
would  you  not  rather  have  your  breakfast  first?"  The  tramp 
confessed  that  would  be  very  agreeable,  as  he  was  quite 
hungry. 

Having  eaten  heartily  the  two  men  talked  together  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  tramp  should  work 
for  Mr.  K.,  in  his  lumberyard,  for  wages  that  were  agreed  upon. 
The  new  hand  proved  a  good  one  and  it  was  not  long  till 
a  feeling  of  friendship  sprang  up  between  the  employer  and 
his  new  man,  a  friendship  that  was  increasingly  strong  on  the 
part  of  the  "tramp,"  whose  tramping  days  were  now  over,  as 
the  sequel  will  show. 

As  the  days  went  on,  Mr.  Kurtz,  for  that  was  the  name  of 
the  new  man,  accepted  an  invitation  to  accompany  his  employer 
and  benefactor  to  church.  On  one  evening  they  went  to  prayer- 
meeting  together,  and  the  night  being  very  rainy,  there  were 
but  five  persons  present,  all  men,  and  they  sat  for  some  time 
talking,  holding,  indeed,  an  informal  conference  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  It  was  learned  that  every  person  present  except 
this  ex-tramp,  was  a  professed  Christian.  The  pastor  of  the 
church,  who  was  one  of  the  five,  put  the  question  of  personal 
religion  squarely  before  Mr.  Kurtz,  and  it  was  discovered  in  a 
very  short  time  that  he  was  already  very  deeply  exercised  in 
regard  to  his  spiritual  condition,  and  he  readily  and  gratefully 
consented  to  be  prayed  for.  Then  all  those  men  kneeled  and 
prayed  for  the  salvation  of  the  poor  man,  who  rose  happy 
from  his  knees  and  extended  his  hand  to  those  present  as  a 
token  of  his  acceptance  of  Christ  as  his  Savior. 


342  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Now,  as  the  sequel  to  this  profession,  we  have  this  to  record: 
For  some  time  the  new  convert  remained  in  the  employment 
of  Mr.  K.,  became  a  constant  attendant  at  church,  and  gave 
proof  to  all  by  his  walk  and  conversation  that  he  was  a  genuine 
Christian. 

Some  time  later  he  secured  a  contract  on  the  railroad  with 
men  under  him,  and  his  example  over  those  rough,  wicked 
men  had  a  marked  influence  for  good.  He  started  prayer- 
meetings  among  the  men  and  gave  Bibles  to  those  that  had 
none,  and  a  number  of  them  were  known  to  follow  the  exam- 
ple of  their  boss. — Dr,  W,  S.  Danley  in  The  Westminster. 

The  Resurrection  of  Character. 

How  a  band  of  outlaws  was  transformed  is  a  thrilling  story 
from  the  Philippines: 

At  his  own  request  Miguel  was  sent  to  a  frontier  village 
at  the  very  edge  of  the  mountains,  among  a  half-wild  moun- 
tain peasantry  that  had  already  become  Protestant.  They  built 
him  a  fine  chapel,  and  week  days  were  spent  in  conducting  a 
school  for  the  children,  with  frequent  preaching  services  for 
all.  The  wlfole  neighborhood  soon  flocked  to  hear  the  gospel. 
This  district  is  a  lurking  place  for  bandits,  unprincipled  men 
who  are  too  lazy  to  work  and  do  not  hesitate  to  commit 
murder  for  a  little  pillage.  One  day  a  band  of  some  half 
dozen  of  these  cutthroats,  fully  armed,  came  into  the  chapel 
while  Miguel  was  preaching.  The  Spirit  gave  him  courage  to 
face  them  in  a  way  worthy  of  an  apostle,  and  he  preached 
so  strongly  about  the  judgment  and  punishment  to  come  that 
the  leader  of  the  band,  a  cool,  hard-headed  man  of  fifty  years 
of  age,  with  many  a  bloody  deed  to  his  record,  and  a  reward 
of  four  hundred  pesos  offered  by  the  government  for  his  cap- 
ture, dead  or  alive,  fell  on  his  knees  in  tears  and  cried  out  for 
help  and  salvation,  if  any  were  to  be  had.  This  man,  with  his 
entire  band  of  outlaws,  has  since  reformed  and  he  is  now 
permitted  by  the  government  to  live  unmolested  so  long  as  he 
shall  lead  an  honorable  life;  all  this  as  the  fruitage  of  the 
Spirit-given  message  he  heard  that  day  from  our  boyish-look- 
ing preacher. — Westminster  Teacher. 


GOD'S   POWER  TO   SAVE  343 

Christ  Transforming  India 

The  awakening  of  India's  conscientious  nature  is  revealed 
in  a  new  attitude  toward  social  and  domestic  reform,  especially 
toward  marriage.  Until  comparatively  recently  it  has  been 
impossible  to  obtain  a  serious  hearing  before  a  student  body 
upon  questions  concerning  the  home,  so  skeptical  have  been 
these  men  as  to  the  binding  character  of  moral  laws  relating  to 
social  conduct.  Even  now,  to  be  sure,  virtually  all  the  stu- 
dents one  addresses  in  the  colleges  are  married,  but  the  mar- 
riage relation  is  being  set  further  on  each  year,  and  while 
students  are  betrothed  at  an  early  age,  the  educated  Indians 
are  becoming  more  and  more  averse  to  the  early  marriages 
of  their  sons  and  daughters. 

This  change  of  the  accent  of  religion  from  ceremonial  to 
morals  and  conduct  is  afifecting  not  simply  the  physical  life  of 
students,  but  its  bearing  is  seen  directly  in  a  most  timely 
fashion  in  business,  politics  and  the  general  trustworthiness 
of  men  of  aflPairs. 

For  thirty  centuries  India  has  been  turning  her  gaze  into 
her  own  soul.  Religion  has  been  spent  upon  itself.  Contem- 
plation rather  than  action  has  been  the  objective.  In  short, 
religion  in  India  has  been  a  disease,  another  name  for  egoism. 
Men's  souls  have  become  burdens  to  them,  as  usually  happens 
with  those  persons  who  give  disproportionate  attention  to 
self-examination  and  introspective  spiritual  self-development. — 
The  Century. 

Change  Into  His  Image. 

A  notorious  bandit  in  India,  deserted  by  his  friends  in  his 
old  age,  an  outlaw,  his  conscience  aroused,  sought  for  peace 
in  vain  at  idol  shrines. 

One  beautiful  Sunday  he  went  to  a  large  city  to  attend  an 
idolatrous  celebration,  and,  as  he  walked  about,  he  heard  a 
sound  that  attracted  his  attention.  It  was  the  clear,  silvery 
tone  of  an  American  bell,  very  different  from  Hindu  bells. 
He  made  inquiries  about  it,  and  was  told  that  it  was  the  bell 
which  rang  every  Sunday  to  call  the  Christians  to  worship. 
Christians!  Who  were  they?  He  had  never  heard  of  them 
before,   so  he  went  in  the  direction  of  the  sound,  and  came. 


344  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

at  length,  to  a  large  building.  People  were  flocking  in,  and, 
after  a  moment's  hesitation,  Keruba  entered  and  listened  to 
the  opening  exercises  with  some  curiosity ;  but  when  the  minis- 
ter gave  out  his  text,  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin,"  he  was  aroused  and  listened  with 
deepest  interest.  The  preacher  caught  sight  of  Keruba's  eager, 
anxious  look,  and  preached,  with  uncommon  power,  Christ  and 
him  crucified. 

The  service  ended,  and  the  people  left  the  place;  but  Keruba 
lingered,  until  the  missionary  came  out.  Then,  stepping  up 
to  him,  he  said: 

"Sahib,  is  this  all  true  that  you  have  been  preaching?" 

"It  is,"  said  the  missionary,  "for  it  is  just  what  God  him- 
self has  told  us." 

"Well,  Sahib ;  you  say  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  can 
cleanse  us  from  all  sin,  can  it  take  away  the  stain  of  murder?" 

"Yes,  indeed  it  can,  if  the  murderer  truly  believes  on  the 
Lord  Jesus.  God  declares  that  'whosoever  believeth  on  him 
shall  receive  remission  of  sins.'  " 

"Well,  but,  Sahib,  supposing  a  man  has  committed  two 
murders,  can  he  be  forgiven  them?" 

"He  can." 

"Five  murders?" 

"Yes,  even  five." 

"Supposing  he  had  murdered  ten  innocent  persons!"  said 
the  man  earnestly. 

"God   can   forgive  and  blot  out  ten   murders." 

"But,  Sahib,  supposing  it's  twenty  instead  of  ten?" 

"God  will  forgive  twenty  murders  for  the  sake  of  his  Son, 
Jesus  Christ!" 

"Then  he's  the  God  for  me!"  exclaimed  the  man,  tears  filling 
his  eyes  and  streaming  down  his  hard  cheeks.  "O  God,  have 
pity  on  me,  for  I  have  have  murdered  twenty  poor  innocent 
creatures!     Sahib,"  he  added,  "will  he  forgive  me?" 

The  missionary  grasped  his  hand  and  wept  with  him,  while 
Keruba  gradually  unfolded  to  him  the  whole  story  of  his  life, 
and  of  his   distress   of  mind  during  the   past  year.     He   told 


GOD'S    POWER  TO   SAVE  345 

him  how  he  had  tortured  himself,  and  tried  in  every  way  to 
ease  his  conscience,  but  in  vain. 

"But  now,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  have  found  the  Lamb  of  God!. 
You  say  he  died  for  me.  I  feel  here,  in  my  heart,  it  is  true. 
Oh,  Jesus  Christ,  I  want  you !  Oh,  take  away  my  sins !"  And 
when  the  twilight  stole  into  the  chapel  the  missionary  and  the 
robber  knelt  and  prayed  and  Keruba  rose  from  his  knees,  feel- 
ing his  heavy  burden  all  gone,  because  the  Lord  had  taken  it 
away. 

In  a  few  days  he  returned  to  his  friends,  and  told  them  what 
had  happened — how  wicked  and  wretched  and  miserable  he 
had  been,  but  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Savior  of  the  guilty,  had 
given  pardon  and  comfort.  They  all  wondered  at  his  words, 
but  more  than  all  at  his  radiant,  happy  face,  so  changed  from 
what  it  had  been ;  and  many  were  led  to  inquire,  and  to  believe 
as  he  did.  As  before  he  had  won  followers  to  himself  so  now, 
with  all  his  zeal  and  might,  he  strove  to  win  followers  to 
Christ. — Missionary  Report. 

Tested  Through  the  Ages. 

In  the  laboratory  of  a  well-equipped  agricultural  college 
you  will  see  at  one  table  a  student  patiently  picking  over  by 
hand  a  little  pile  of  tiny  grass  seed,  examining  it  grain  by 
grain,  to  separate  the  weeds,  and  select  the  best  seed;  while, 
at  another  table,  the  hardness  of  different  wheat  grains  is 
being  tested  by  an  ingenious  machine,  and  carefully  registered. 
The  aim  of  all  this  labor  is  to  provide  farmers  with  the  very 
best  seed  to  sow  in  their  fields.  During  centuries  upon  cen- 
turies the  good  seed  of  God's  word  has  been  producing  the 
most  blessed  results  in  human  hearts  and  homes  and  institu- 
tions. It  has  been  thoroughly  tested ;  we  may  depend  upon  it, 
so  we  only  hear  and  heed  it,  to  bring  forth  in  us  fruit  that 
will  abide  and  satisfy. — The  Teacher's  Monthly. 

A  Twice-Born  Man. 
In  London  a  sodden  wretch  was  converted  and  lived  a 
righteous  life.  The  outcasts  about  him  saw  that,  perhaps,  the 
very  lowest  man  in  the  whole  neighborhood,  the  man,  at  any 
rate,  most  sunken  in  drunkenness,  was  now  walking  in  their 
midst,    clean,   happy   and    respectable.     He   had    got    religion. 


346  ■  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Religion  had  done  the  miracle.  Religion  was  a  good  thing, 
if  only  a  man  could  once  make  up  his  mind  to  take  the  step. 
Look  at  Old  Born  Drunk  (so  they  called  him).  What  a  differ- 
ence religion  had  made  to  him!  Before  the  miracle  of  Old 
Born  Drunk  the  arguments  of  the  tavern  atheists  melted  into 
thin  air.  Facts  are  stubborn  things,  and  never  more  stubborn 
than  when  they  walk  the  street  and  breathe  human  air.  Never 
a  public  house  argument  about  religion  that  did  not  end  with, 
"Well,  anyhow,  what  about  Old  Born  Drunk?" — Tzvice-Born  Men. 

The  change  wrought  in  a  Kentucky  mountain  boy  through 
the  tactful  dealing  of  a  wise  teacher  is  told  as  follows : 

In  the  Kentucky  mountains,  Perry  Abbitt,  the  son  of  a 
widow,  had  the  reputation  in  the  neighborhood  of  being  a 
"powerful  bad  boy."  He  had  never  been  subjected  to  restraint 
and  he  delighted  in  disturbing  meetings  by  firing  a  revolver 
and  throwing  stones.  A  Sabbath  school  missionary  organized 
a  Sabbath  school  in  that  neighborhood  and  with  considerable 
tact  engaged  Perry  to  help  him  keep  order  among  the  boys. 
This  bad  boy  of  the  neighborhood  accepted  the  responsibility 
and  undertook  the  job  of  keeping  the  rest  in  order.  The  boy 
kept  his  promise  and  the  school  flourished.  Three  years  after- 
ward Perry  was  one  of  twenty-one  who  made  a  profession  of 
religion.  Soon  after  this  young  man  felt  called  for  the  min- 
istry and  he  is  now  said  to  be  living  in  New  Mexico  and 
preaching  for  three  churches  which  he  organized.  The  good 
seed  sown  in  good  ground  and  properly  cultivated  will  always 
bring  forth  a  bountiful  harvest. 

A  Miracle  of  Grace. 

X  want  to  tell  you  of  one  of  our  Christians  in  Amoy,  China, 
a  man  rough,  uncouth,  unlettered— a  man  very  much  wanting 
in  the  graces  and  culture  of  some  of  the  more  educated 
Chinese.  Many  years  ago  this  man  was  a  most  confirmed 
gambler,  who  had  the  reputation  in  his  own  village  and  in  the 
regions  round  about,  of  being  the  greatest  gambler  in  that 
part.  We  in  England  do  not  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
word  "gambling"  as  the  Chinese  do.  This  passion  is  born  in 
the  Chinaman,  it  is  in  his  very  blood,  and  in  his  fiber;  and 
when  you  talk  about  gambling  you  have  to  go  to  China  to  see 


GOD'S    POWER  TO   SAVE  347 

what  It  is  there.  This  man  that  I  speak  of  was  pre-eminent  as 
a  gambler.  His  wife  entreated  him  to  give  it  up,  and  his 
father  did  too.  The  father,  who  is  a  great  power  in  China, 
would  ask  his  son  to  give  up  gambling,  and  he  would  promise 
to  do  so,  but  when  he  got  away  from  the  influences  of  home 
again  the  great  passion  came  back.  One  time  at  an  annual 
festival  in  the  village  the  father  wanted  to  shame  this  man, 
and  he  took  him  and  tied  him  to  a  stake  in  front  of  all  the 
village  and  in  the  presence  of  all  the  young  men  of  the  neigh- 
boring villages.  But  it  was  of  no  use.  One  day  the  man 
was  passing  along  the  streets  of  Amoy  when  he  came  to  a 
crowd  where  there  was  a  missionary  preaching.  He  came  to 
the  edge  of  the  crowd,  and  some  wondrous  power  seemed  to 
seize  hold  of  him.  He  told  me,  "I  did  not  understand  very 
well  what  the  missionary  said,  but  there  was  something  about 
him  which  seized  hold  of  me  and  I  was  controlled  as  I  never 
w^as  before  in  my  life."  He  went  home.  He  said,  "I  must 
hear  more  of  this."  Next  Sunday  he  went  to  church  and  the 
passion  for  gambling  disappeared.  The  demon  was  driven  out 
of  him,  and  he  became  not  only  a  Christian  but  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel.  It  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  our 
Christianity  in  China  today,  that  our  converts  are  preachers 
and  at  that,  though  the  number  of  Christians  in  Amoy  is  very 
large,  the  great  majority  of  them  have  been  gathered  in  by 
the  Christian  natives  themselves.  After  that  he  went  home 
with  money  and  goods  that  he  had  earned.  As  he  came  to 
his  native  village  the  young  men  gathered  around  him  and 
said,  "You  have  been  very  successful  in  gambling  operations 
lately."  But  he  replied,  "I  gamble  no  more."  They  thought  it 
was  a  huge  joke.  Then  he  came  to  his  own  home.  His  father 
and  mother  said  nothing  because  he  had  brought  back  goods 
and  money.  A  month  afterward  he  returned  again  with  money 
and  goods,  and  as  he  was  nearing  his  village  he  was  seized 
by  a  number  of  men  belonging  to  a  large  clan,  and  he  was 
captured  by  them  and  held  for  ransom.  In  those  days  the 
law  was  not  closely  observed  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and 
villages  that  were  strong  seized  and  apprehended  whomever 
they  could  lay  hands  on.  When  he  was  seized  he  said,  "Yes,  take 


348  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

my  goods  and  take  my  money;  my  desire  is  to  go  to  your 
village  and  preach  the  gospel,  and  if  I  can  do  so  at  the  expense 
of  my  money  and  goods  I  shall  be  very  willing."  He  was  car- 
ried to  the  village  and,  whilst  standing  in  an  open  space  wait- 
ing to  learn  what  ransom  should  be  decided  upon  by  the 
elders,  the  crowd  gathered  around  him  and  they  stood  and  list- 
ened, and  listened,  for  no  man  had  ever  dared  stand  and  preach 
in  that  village  before  and  tell  about  Christ.  He  heard  some 
woman  say,  "We  cannot  take  this  man's  money,  we  cannot  take 
his  goods ;  what  he  says  is  beautiful."  And  by  and  by  the 
men  gathered  round  and  led  him  to  those  who  had  taken 
his  goods,  and  they  gathered  them  together  house  by  house, 
and  gave  the  goods  back  to  him  and  let  him  go  home. 

What  has  been  the  result?  Today  in  that  man's  village 
there  is  one  of  the  most  active  and  powerful  churches 
we  have  in  the  whole  of  our  work.  The  church 
is  self-supporting  and  has  six  mission  stations  in  the 
villages  round  about,  worked  by  the  members,  and  that  village 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  all  that  region.  I  believe  there  is  no 
church  in  all  China  more  active  and  more  vigorous  than  it, 
and  I  verily  believe  there  is  no  church  in  Christian  lands  more 
active  and  earnest  in  the  salvation  of  men  than  this  church. — 
/.  MacGowan. 

Factory  Religion. 

"No,  sir,"  said  Scofield,  the  factory  engineer,  emphatically; 
"there  is  no  such  thing  as  factory  religion !  It's  a  contradic- 
tion.    Why,  my  engine  won't  run  if  I  don't  swear  at  times." 

"How  do  you  know?"  asked  the  listener. 

The  fireman  laughed. 

Scofield  turned  upon  him  like  a  flash : 

"Tom,"  said  he,  with  an  oath,  "wheel  in  ten  or  twelve  more 
barrowfuls  of  that  Nova  Scotia  coal.  There  isn't  half  enough 
to  last  till  six  o'clock." 

The  fireman  departed  without  a  word,  and  the  engineer 
bustled  around  the  room,  oiling  the  slides,  testing  the  water. 
Opening  and  shutting  valves. 


GOD'S    POWER   TO   SAVE  349 

"Well,  I  suppose  I  must  leave  you,"  said  the  visitor,  rising 
from  his  chair  and  holding  out  his  hand.  "Will  you  not  give 
the  subject  a  thought?" 

The  engineer  shook  his  head.  "It's  no  place  for  religion,  I 
tell  you,"  he  said.  "To  my  mind,  factories  ought  never  to  have 
been  built.  God  intended  man  to  live  out  in  the  free  air  and 
enjoy  nature.  There  is  plenty  of  room  for  religion  out  of 
doors ;  but  here,  where  the  very  pulleys  swear  at  their  work — 
where  steam  shrieks  and  curses — here  is  no  place  for  religion." 

"Tom,"  cried  Scofield,  after  the  minister  had  left,  "don't 
bother  about  any  more  coal,  my  boy,  I  was  out  of  sorts  when 
I  spoke.     There  is  enough  in  now  to  last  a  week." 

"I  couldn't  help  laughing,  though,"  said  Tom,  wiping  the 
grimy  sweat  from  his  brow.  "You  know  that  you  never  did 
try  to  do  anything  without  swearing." 

The  engineer  made  no  reply,  but  opened  a  paper  and  seemed 
to  read.  The  printed  words,  however,  did  not  engage  his  atten- 
tion, but  most  vividly  what  the  fireman  said  came  before  him 
again  and  again. 

Was  it  as  bad  as  that?  Could  he  do  nothing  without  swear- 
ing? He  resolved  to  test  himself.  He  would  begin  early  next 
morning,  and  for  every  oath  uttered  he  would  drop  a  small 
brass  nail  into  a  tumbler  that  was  in  the  window.  He  rather 
thought  that  the  tumbler  would  be  empty  at  night — now  that 
he  had  got  his  will  up. 

The  next  day  came — Scofield  rose  at  five  as  usual,  and  going 
downstairs  in  his  stocking  feet,  stepped  on  a  tack.  The  vol- 
ley of  oaths  that  followed  counted  out  seven  nails  for  the  tum- 
bler. The  buckwheat  cakes,  a  collar  button,  the  cat,  a  slow 
clock,  and  the  remembrance  of  his  purpose,  scored  five  more. 
Then  with  grim  determination  he  shut  his  teeth  and  said  not 
a  word  more  until  he  reached  the  engine  room,  where  he 
counted  out  the  twelve  nails  and  threw  them  into  the  tumbler 
with  an  oath — yes,  an  oath  of  relief.  He  was  half  across  the 
room  before  the  last  one  dawned  upon  him,  but  true  to  his 
purpose  he  walked  back  and  put  another  nail  into  the  glass. 

All  day  long  he  struggled,  and  at  night  the  tumbler  held 
thirty   nails.     Scofield    was    startled.     He   had    never    dreamed 


350  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

that  he  was  so  profane,  and  the  habit  had  such  a  "grip"  upon 
him.  At  last  he  went  to  "Christian  Tim,"  an  old  man  in  the 
steel  works,  and  told  him  the  whole  affair.  Tim  pondered  a 
while,  and  then  said : 

"You  may  be  able  to  leave  off  in  time  by  your  own  will 
power,  but  I  know  a  better  way." 

"What  is  it?"  inquired  the  other. 

"Ask  the  help  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  said  Tim,  earnestly. 
"Has  he  not  heard  every  oath?  Isn't  it  against  him  that  you 
have  sinned?  I  had  the  same  experience  myself  years  ago,  but 
with  his  help  I  never  feel  the  least  inclination  to  swear.  And 
as  for  being  happy — the  hours  are  so  swift-winged  that  I  can 
hardly  tell  where  the  days  go." 

The  minister  called  again  upon  Scofield. 

"There  is  a  factory  religion,  sir,"  said  the  engineer.  "My 
fireman,  Tom,  and  myself  are  trying  to  live  up  to  it.  There 
is  a  Bible  in  that  desk,  and  we  find  time  to  read  some  in  it 
every  day.  And  to  tell  the  truth,  I  believe  the  work  is  less 
hard,  the  wheels  run  more  smoothly,  the  valves  are  tighter,  and 
the  whole  place  is  lighter,  cleaner  and  better,  for  this  same 
factory  religion." — Illustrated  Christian  Weekly. 

A  Brother's  Triumph. 

"A  few  days  ago  I  went  up  to  Guyrat  to  attend  the  executive 
committee  meeting  of  a  convention,"  writes  Dr.  D.  J.  Fleming, 
of  Lahore,  India.  There  as  one  of  ten  men  sitting  on  this 
committee  was  a  Mohammedan  convert  of  whom  I  wish  to 
tell  you. 

"This  man  was  a  Kazi — that  is,  he  was  to  Mohammedanism 
what  a  scribe  was  to  Judaism.  Soon  after  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian he  went  back  to  his  frontier  home  and  was  entertained  by 
his  brother.  After  dinner  the  Kazi  felt  sick.  More  and  more 
did  he  suffer  until  it  became  plain  that  he  had  been  poisoned. 
While  running  away  he  fell  senseless  on  the  roadside,  but  was 
finally  saved. 

"Again,  a  bullet  whizzed  by  his  head.  Still  another  time  he 
heard  the  click  of  a  pistol  trigger,  and  turned  just  in  time  to 
let  the  bullet  pass  harmlessly  by.  This  brother,  however,  fell 
in   financial    difficulty,   and   the   Kazi    endeavored   to   help   him. 


GOD'S    POWER   TO   SAVE  351 

He  succeeded  in  getting  a  Mussulman  to  go  his  brother's 
surety.  The  brother  wrote,  'You  are  not  a  true  Pathan  (fron- 
tiersman), for  no  Pathan  would  ever  forgive  what  I  have 
done  to  you.  I  disown  you.'  The  Kazi  wrote  back,  'Whether 
or  not  I  am  a  true  Pathan,  you  must  judge.  But  what  I  am 
this  book  has  made  me,'  and  he  sent  along  a  copy  of  the  Bible. 
"That  was  several  years  ago.  The  beautiful  thing  is  that  at 
Guyrat  this  brother  was  along  as  an  inquirer,  having  been  won 
by  the  patience  and  love  of  the  Kazi." — The  Interior. 

A  Soul's  Triumph. 

When  Horace  Bushnell  was  at  Yale  college  as  a  tutor,  he 

was  skeptical,  and  his  influence  on  the  students  was  hurtful. 

He  felt  this  burden  of  responsibility  somewhat  himself,  and,  as 

he   afterwards   expressed   it   to   a   friend   of   mine,   he   said   he 

thought  he  was  "like  a  great  snag  in  the  river  that  caught  the 

shipping  as  it  came   down,   and  held   it  fast."     He   could   not 

bear  this  responsibility,  so  one  night  he  sat  down  in  his  study 

to   take   stock   of  what   he   really   did   believe.     He    concluded 

that   he   knew    two    things :     First,    that    God    was    God ;    and 

second,  that  right  was  right ;  although  he   did  not  believe   in 

the    divinity    of    Christ    nor    in    the    inspiration    of    the    Bible-, 

The  thought  occurred  to  him,  "What  is  the  use  of  my  trying 

to  get  further  knowledge,  so  long  as  I  do  not  cheerfully  yield 

myself  to   do  that  which   has   already  been   revealed   to   me?" 

Moved  by  this  thought,  he  knelt  down   and  prayed  a  prayer 

something  like  this:     "Oh  God!"     he  said,  "I  believe  there  is 

an   ineradicable,  eternal  distinction  between   right  and  wrong, 

and  I  hereby  give  myself  up  to  do  the  right  and   to   refrain 

from  doing  the  wrong;  and  I  believe  that    thou  dost  exist,  and 

if  thou  canst  hear  my  cry  and  wilt  reveal  thyself  unto  me  I 

pledge  myself  that  I  will  do  thy  will ;  and  I  make  this  pledge 

fully  and  freely  and  forever."     And  God  took  him  by  the  hand 

and  lifted  him  up  and  led  him  where  he  gained  a  magnificent 

conception  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  found  salvation  for  himself  and 

others. — Mills. 


352  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

A  New  Man  in  Christ. 

Valentine  Burke,  a  St.  Louis  burglar,  was  converted  in  the 
Moody  meetings.     His  reformation  was  complete. 

One  day  there  came  a  message  from  the  sheriff  that  he  was 
wanted  at  the  court  house,  and  Burke  obeyed  with  a  heavy 
heart. 

"Some  old  case  they've  got  up  against  me,"  he  said;  "but,  if 
I'm  guilty  I'll  tell  them  so.     I've  done  lying." 

The  sheriff  greeted  him  kindly. 

"Where  have  you  been,  Burke?" 

"In  New  York." 

"What  have  you  been  doing  there?'* 

"Trying  to  find  a  decent  job,"  said  Burke. 

"Have  you  kept  a  good  grip  on  the  religion  you  told  me 
about?"  inquired  the  sheriff, 

"Yes,"  answered  Burke,  looking  him  steadily  in  the  eye. 
"I've  had  a  hard  time,  sheriff,  but  I  haven't  lost  my  religon." 

It  was  then  the  tide  began  to  turn. 

"Burke,"  said  the  sheriff,  "I  have  had  you  shadowed  every 
day  you  were  in  New  York.  I  suspected  that  your  religion 
was  a  fraud.  But  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  I  know  you've 
lived  an  honest  Christian  life,  and  I  have  sent  for  you  to  offer 
you  a  deputyship  under  me.     You  can  begin  at  once." 

He  began.  He  set  his  face  like  flint.  Steadily,  and  with 
dogged  faithfulness,  the  old  burglar  went  about  his  duties  until 
the  men  high  in  business  began  to  tip  their  hats  to  him,  and 
to  talk  of  him  at  their  clubs.  Moody  was  passing  through  the 
city,  and  stopped  off  an  hour  to  meet  Burke,  who  loved  nobody 
as  he  did  the  man  who  converted  him.  Moody  told  how  he 
found  him  in  a  close  room  upstairs  in  the  court  house  serving 
as  trusted  guard  over  a  bag  of  diamonds.  Burke  sat  with  the 
sack  of  gems  in  his  lap,  and  a  gun  on  the  table.  There  were 
$60,000  worth  of  diamonds  in  the  sack. 

"Moody,"  he  said,  "see  what  the  grace  of  God  can  do 
for  a  burglar.  Look  at  this !  The  sheriff  picked  me  out  of  his 
force  to  guard  it" 


SERVICE  FOURTEEN— Thursday  Evening 
The  Joy  of  Salvation 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XIV 

Go  thy  way,  eat  thy  bread  with  joy  *  *  *  for 
God  now  accepteth  thy  works. — Eccles.  p. 7. 

The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  is  become 
my  salvation. — Ps.  118:14. 

Great  peace  have  they  which  love  thy  laws  and  noth- 
ing shall  offend  them. — Ps.   11^:165. 

And  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understand- 
ing, shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds  through 
Christ  Jesus. — Phil.  4:/'. 

Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest. — Matt.  11:28. 

Always  icjoicing. — 2  Cor.  6:10. 

I  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God. — Ps.  71:16. 

And  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free. — John  8:^2. 

Return  unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul. — Ps.  ii6:}^. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Go  thy  way,  eat  thy  bread  with  joy    *     *    *     fQj.  Qq^  ^ow 
accepteth  thy  works. — Eccles.  9:7, 

1.  It  is  possible  to  have  the  approval,  to  win  the  com- 

mendation of  God;  "to  please  God;"  "she  hath 
done  what  she  could;"  "O  woman,  great  is  thy 
faith." 

2.  The  consciousness  of  God's  approval  is  a  mighty  soul- 

stay;  "there  is  a  peace  above  all  earthly  dig- 
nities, a  calm  and  quiet  conscience." 

3.  It  brings  peace  and  joy,  physical,  mental  and  spirit- 

ual strength,  and  is  a  boon  eagerly  to  be  sought. 

The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  is  become  my  sal- 
vation.—Ps.  118:14. 

I  1,     Salvation  is  personal  union  with  Christ — "Lord." 

2.  He  becomes  the  source  of  all  power — "strength." 

3.  The   spring  of  life's  deepest  emotions — "song." 

Great  peace  have  they  that  love  thy  law  and  nothing  shall 
offend  them.— Ps.  119:165. 

1.  An  essential  condition;  "love  thy  law." 

2.  A  special  privilege,  "nothing  shall  offend   (stumble) 

them;  (1)  Not  "things  hard  to  be  understood"  in 
the  Bible;  (2)  In  providential  dealings;  (3)  Not 
temptations. 

3.  A  blessed  result;  "great  peace."     Great,  because  (1) 

God's;  (2)  "Passeth  all  understanding;"  (3)  Inex- 
haustible "as  a  river." 

And  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall 
keep  your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus. — Phil.  4:7. 

1.  At  peace  with   God  "through   Christ  Jesus;"   recon- 

ciled. 

2.  The  peace  of  God. 

3.  An  incomprehensible  peace;  "passeth  all  understand- 

mg. 

4.  A  keeping  peace.  (Ps.  127.) 

5.  Mental  peace,  from  anxiety  and  worry;  and   moral, 

from  the  storms  of  evil  passion. 


356  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest. — Matt.  1 1 :28. 

1.  Earth's  toiling,  weary  throngs. 

2.  The    divine    Rest-bringer.      Rest    for    the    tempest- 

tossed  soul ;  the  baffled  brain ;  the  weary  feet. 

3.  His  gracious  invitation  and  promise  to  all,  "Come." 

Always  rejoicing. — 2  Cor.  6:10. 

The  grounds  of  Christian  joy: 

1.  The  past  is  pardoned;    "I  have  blotted  out    *     *     * 

thy  transgressions." 

2.  The   present   girded    and   guided ;    "    underneath    are 

the  everlasting  arms;"  "the  Lord  is  my  shepherd, 
I  shall  not  want." 

3.  The  future  bright  with  hope;  "in  my  father's  house 

are  many  mansions." 

I  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God. — Ps.  71 :16. 

1.  Realized    impotence. 

2.  Proffered  omnipotence. 

3.  A  wise  resolve  assuring  a  successful  issue. 

And  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free. — John  8:32. 

1.  Spirit-taught    souls;    "he    shall    show    it   unto   you." 

2.  Liberated    souls;    from    the    bondage    of    ignorance, 

superstition  and  spiritual  uncertainty,  the  Bible  is 
an   emancipation   proclamation. 

3.  This  privilege  offered  to  all. 

Return  unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul. — Ps.  116:7. 

1.  Sin  means  wandering  from  God. 

2.  Soul  weariness;  God  is  the  soul's  only  resting  place. 

3.  His  arms  open  to  receive  you. 

4.  Return. 


SUGGESTIONS 

The  following  very  suggestive  description  of  an  after-meeting 
in  actual  operation  and  of  the  valuable  service  which  Christians 
trained  to  personal  service  may  render,  was  given  some  years 
ago  in  one  of  our  religious  weeklies,  and  will  be  of  special  assist- 
ance to  every  pastor  engaged  in  evangelistic  services. 

The  pastor  preached  a  very  simple  but  earnest  sermon  of  about 
thirty  or  perhaps  forty  minutes.  He  announced  at  the  close  of 
the  sermon  that  there  would  be  the  usual  after-meeting,  and 
invited  all  who  were  interested  to  remain.  About  three  hundred 
out  of  a  thousand  people  present  remained.  The  pastor  in  a  few 
brief  remarks  explained  the  object  of  the  meeting — viz.,  that  any 
persons  present  who  were  interested  in  the  salvation  of  their 
souls  might  have  an  opportunity  of  declaring  their  desires  or 
confessing  their  faith  in  Christ,  if  they  had  decided  for  him.  He 
then  told  how  they  might  come  to  Christ,  repeating  and  illus- 
trating two  or  three  scriptural  promises,  and  without  ceremony 
calling  first  on  this  brother,  and  then  on  that  one,  to  tell  how  they 
had  been  converted,  or  how  they  came  to  Christ.  With  singular 
unanimity  all  who  were  called  upon  (and  they  seemed  to  be  called 
upon  at  random)  gave  testimonies  confirmatory  of  the  pastor's 
teaching,  and  expressed  their  thankfulness  and  gratitude  that  they 
were  led  to  accept  Christ  as  a  Savior.  "How  long,"  said  the 
pastor  in  one  or  two  cases,  "since  you  came  to  Christ?"  "Two 
years,"  or  "three  years,"  etc.,  and  in  one  case  "one  week,"  were 
the  answers.  "Have  you  found  Christ  as  good  as  his  promise? 
Has  the  blessing  of  salvation  been  as  good  as  you  expected?" 
"Better,"  said  one.  "Infinitely  greater  and  better  than  I  ever 
dreamed  of,"  said  another;  and  so  the  testimony  went  on.  It 
was  very  interesting.  All  this  did  not  occupy  more  than  fifteen 
minutes. 

Then  the  pastor  asked  any  one  present  who  believed  in  Christ, 
and  wanted  to  confess  him,  to  arise  and  do  so.  There  was  no 
response  to  the  appeal.  The  pastor  waited  a  moment,  and  repeated 
the  invitation.  Still  no  response.  A  moment  or  two  of  silence, 
when  the  pastor  said,     "It  seems  as  if  there  were  none  to  choose 


358  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

the  Lord  tonight,  and  yet  I  feel  sure  that  the  Lord  Is  present 
here,  waiting  to  bless,  and  that  there  are  souls  here,  wanting  his 
blessing."  Then  a  pause,  in  which  we  noticed  persons  in  different 
parts  of  the  house  speaking  in  whispers  to  others.  In  one  case, 
a  gentleman  got  up  out  of  his  seat  and  crossed  the  aisle,  and  sat 
down  by  the  side  of  another  gentleman  and  said  something  to 
him,  at  which  he  smiled  and  shook  his  head.  We  suppose  it  was 
a  quiet  personal  appeal.  Meantime  the  pastor  waited  another 
moment,  and  said:  "If  there  are  none  to  take  the  Savior's  gift 
tonight,  we  will  dismiss  the  meeting."  At  this  moment,  a  gentle- 
man and  lady  rose  together  in  the  most  distant  part  of  the  house. 
The  pastor  very  quietly  asked  them,  "Dear  friends,  do  you 
accept  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  tonight  for  your  Savior  and  Lord?" 
To  which  they  made  audible  response,  "I  do."  "Thank  God!" 
said  the  pastor.  "Now  there  must  be  others.  Brethren  and 
sisters,  speak  to  your  neighbors  and  friends.  They  may  need 
just  one  encouraging  word."  To  this  request  there  was  a 
response.  Several  persons  went  from  their  seats  to  different  parts 
of  the  house  to  speak  to  persons  whom  they  knew,  or  whom  they 
had  been  observing.  Meantime  the  pastor  walked  down  the  aisle, 
and  spoke  to  a  gentleman.  Apparently  just  a  word.  The  gentle- 
man hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  arose  and  spoke  to  the  congre- 
gation, saying  that  he  was  deeply  anxious  about  his  soul.  He 
said  he  had  recently  lost  a  child,  and  that  had  awakened  him  to  a 
sense  of  his  sin  against  God  and  the  need  of  salvation ;  that  he  had 
promised  the  Lord  over  the  grave  of  his  boy  that  he  would  give 
his  heart  to  him,  and  how  he  had  deferred  it ;  how,  again  and 
again,  he  had  desired  to  respond  to  the  invitation  of  the  gospel, 
but  did  not  seem  to  have  the  moral  courage  publicly  to  confess 
Christ;  how  he  had  wanted  to  do  so  all  through  the  present 
meeting,  but  was  deterred  through  lack  of  courage;  but  that  now 
he  was  thankful  that  the  pastor  had  come  down  and  spoken  to 
him.  He  had  just  needed  this  word  to  help  him  "over  the  line," 
and  now  he  publicly  confessed  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Savior.  Then 
another  gentleman  arose  and  confessed  himself  a  wanderer,  and 
his  purpose  there  and  then  to  give  himself  back  to  God,  confessing^ 
his  backslidings,  and  asked  an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  the  people. 
Then  a  young  lady  arose  and  confessed  Christ,  After  this  the 
pastor  made  a  prayer  for  these  new  confessors,  and  dismissed  the 


THE  JOY   OF   SALVATION  3S9 

meeting,  meantime  having  brought  them  all  forward  where  he 
could  speak  to  them  personally.  But  the  meeting  was  not  over. 
All  about  the  church  there  were  little  groups  remaining,  engaged 
in  earnest  conversation ;  and  we  learn  that  later  on,  and  yet  before 
ten  o'clock,  three  men  additional  to  those  who  had  confessed  in  the 
after-meeting,  gave  themselves  to  Christ. 

There  have  been  no  special  meetings  held  in  that  church  this 
winter,  but  these  after-meetings  are  a  part  of  the  regular  Sunday 
evening  church  service.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  nearly  thirty 
persons,  men  and  women,  were  proposed  for  membership  on 
confession  of  faith  that  day,  the  fruit  of  one  month's  ripening  and 
gathering,  for  in  that  church  their  communions  are  monthly. 

Our  object  in  detailing  what  we  saw  in  that  one  service  is  to 
impress  upon  our  readers  not  only  the  value  of  these  simple  and 
practical  methods  in  connection  with  ordinary  pastoral  labor,  but 
to  point  out  the  exceeding  importance  of  having  a  number  of 
persons  in  the  congregation  who  are  ready  to  supplement  the 
pastor's  work  by  personally  speaking  to  souls  and  helping  them 
over  the  line, 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Peace  is  the  reward  of  life  and  fellowship  with  Christ.  Peace 
is  not  a  thing  that  comes  down  solid,  as  it  were,  and  is  fitted 
somehow  into  a  man's  nature.  We  have  very  gross  conceptions 
of  peace,  joy,  and  other  Christian  experiences ;  but  they  are  all 
simply  effects  of  causes.  We  fulfill  the  condition ;  we  cannot 
help  the  experiences  following. — Selected. 

The  answer  you  give  to  the  question  will  settle  your  happiness, 
for  no  man  can  be  happy  unless  he's  good ;  and  no  man  can  be 
happy  who  is  living  a  selfish  life.  If  you  are  to  be  a  really  happy 
man,  you  must  be  a  good  man  and  a  useful  man,  and  if  you  are 
to  be  really  both,  you  must  be  connected  in  love  with  Jesus  Christ, 
You  must  find  the  source  of  happiness  and  the  strength  of  it  and 
the  comfort  of  it  alone  in  him. — Selected. 

I  often  wish,  when  I  see  the  young  hesitating  on  the  threshold 
of  the  kingdom,  that  they  might  realize  how  much  they  lose  by 
staying  away.  Not  a  friend  below  can  offer  so  much  of  enduring 
joy  as  is  freely  offered  by  this  Friend  with  the  pierced  hands,  and 
the  head  once  crowned  with  thorns.  The  sweetness  of  his  call 
will  be  in  your  souls,  dear  child  of  time,  to  all  eternity.  You  can 
never  know  immortal  joy  if  you  do  not  heed  it.  "Come  unto 
me,"  he  says,  "and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Yes,  Lord  Jesus,  we 
will  come,  and  receive  in  this  life,  and  in  the  life  unending,  peace, 
rest,  and  joy,  for  at  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  every- 
one.— Margaret  E.  Sangster. 

It  is  a  serious  misfortune  that  the  Christian  teacher  is  inclined 
to  dwell  rather  upon  the  cost  of  self-denial  than  its  rewards.  It 
is  the  province  of  religion  to  convert  the  wilderness  into  a  fruitful 
field  and  to  make  the  desert  blossom  as  the  rose. 

It  is  quite  true  that  religion  requires  one  to  "take  up  the  cross ;" 
but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the  cross  is  a  source  of  joy  such 
as  the  world  can  not  give  nor  take  from  one.  And  the  first  ele- 
ment in  this  joy  is  freedom  from  the  sting  of  sin.  The  well  man 
passing  through  a  hospital,  where  the  suffering  lie,  says  to  himself, 
"What  a  blessed  thing  is  health."      "To  feel  one's  life  in  every 


THE  JOY  OF  SALVATION  361 

limb"  is  a  joy.  And  to  get  out  from  under  the  burden  of  sin  he 
bore  was  to  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  a  joy  as  heavenly  as  to  view  from 
Beulah's  heights  the  celestial  city. 

It  is  a  joy  of  religion  to  be  conscious  of  strength.  Underneath 
all  the  passion  for  athletfcs  is  the  joy  which  a  strong  man  knows 
who  strips  to  run  a  race.  What  a  joy  the  soul  knows  when  it  has 
learned  to  sing,  "O  my  soul,  thou  hast  trodden  down  strength." 
The  joy  of  conscious  power,  the  joy  of  victorious  strength,  is  a 
part  of  the  joy  of  life  to  which  Jesus  calls  us,  although  the  way 
to  it  lies  by  the  cross. 

And  then  to  crown  all  is  the  joy  of  hope.  Always  "more  to 
follow."  Always  brighter  skies  to  come.  Always  happier  fields 
and  larger  delights  await  us.  Put  these  things  before  the  young 
Christian  and  not  simply  the  demand  for  self-denial.  Self-denial 
is  the  strait  gate,  but  paradise  lies  behind  that  gate. — The  Pres- 
byterian. 

The  Christian  has  the  peace  that  Jesus  Christ  left  for  those  that 
love  him;  he  has  a  settled  joy  within  him  which  is  his  when  the 
storm  rages,  and  when  the  rock-ribs  of  nature  break  up  and  when 
planets  fall  and  stars  go  out  like  sparks  from  the  blacksmith's  anvil 
and  when  sun  and  moon  fall  into  oblivion ;  and  when  this  old  earth 
disappears  like  so  many  scattered  ashes  in  the  last  whirlwind,  the 
man  who  loves  God  will  be  able  to  look  at  it  and  say,  "Break  up, 
old  earth,"  and  it  will  be  but  the  rocking  of  an  infant's  cradle  as 
it  rocks  him  to  rest  in  the  arms  of  him  in  whom  he  trusts. 
When  a  man  is  good,  he  has  a  joy  which  cannot  be  put  into  words. 
When  a  man  accepts  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Savior,  he  wakes  up  to 
joys  that  he  never  dreamed  existed.  Oh,  my  dear  brother,  real 
happiness  depends  on  how  you  stand  with  Christ. — Selected. 

Christian  joy  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  not  made 
to  order.  It  is  not  an  automatic  arrangement  of  grace.  It  is  a 
divine  gift,  divinely  born  and  divinely  imparted,  divinely  nourished 
and  divinely  perpetuated.  It  is  not  dependent  on  external  condi- 
tions, but  rather  upon  internal  possessions — ^possession  of  grace, 
divine  favor,  divine  peace,  divine  assurance,  uninterrupted  fellow- 
ship with  God,  abiding  companionship  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
infilling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Right  internal  relations  with  Christ, 
Tather  than  outward  conditions,  are  the  guarantees  of  the  perma- 


362  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

nence  and  degrees  of  this  joy.  Joy  is  more  than  mere  happiness ! 
Happiness  fluctuates,  is  influenced  by  circumstances,  by  external 
conditions,  but  genuine  Christian  joy,  while  it  produces  exuberance, 
is  nevertheless  an  abiding  grace,  increasing  under  trials  rather 
than  diminishing,  for  it  abounds  wherever  Christ  abounds.  Paul 
and  Silas  knew  what  it  meant  and'  did  for  them  ih  the  Philippian 
jail,  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den,  Luther  in  the  Wartburg,  Bunyan 
in  Bedford  jail,  Christ  in  Gethsemane  and  upon  Calvary,  for  "he 
endured  the  cross  and  despised  the  shame,"  because  of  the  joy 
that  was  set  before  him.  The  joy  of  being  found  in  the  path 
of  duty,  the  joy  of  anticipated  triumph,  the  joy  of  assurance  of 
the  effectiveness  of  his  atoning  death  and  victorious  resurrection, 
the  joy  of  satisfied  justice,  the  joy  of  routing  sin,  and  the  joy  of 
populating  heaven  with  souls  washed  in  his  blood,  from  among 
all  nations,  kindreds  and  tongues. 

The  things  which  Jesus  had  spoken  of  to  his  disciples  should  be 
the  productive  source  of  their  joy.  (See  John  15.)  The  word 
of  pardon  proceeding  from  his  lips  and  lodging  in  our  hearts  pro- 
duces joy.  What  a  joy  to  be  redeemed  from  sin,  what  a  joy 
to  be  adopted  into  the  family  of  God.  What  a  joy  to  be  in 
harmony  with  God,  to  be  an  heir  of  God  and  a  joint  heir  with 
Jesus  Christ.  What  a  joy  to  have  one's  interests  linked  with  the 
interests  of  God.  What  a  joy  to  abide  in  Christ  and  have  his 
words  abide  in  us.  All  "these  things"  produce  a  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory. — Selected. 

We  need  the  peace  of  God  in  our  heart  just  as  really  for  the 
doing  well  of  the  little  things  in  our  secular  life  as  for  the  doing 
of  the  greatest  duties  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Our  face  ought  to 
shine,  and  our  spirit  ought  to  be  tranquil,  and  our  eyes  ought  to 
be  clear,  and  our  nerves  ought  to  be  steady,  as  we  press  through 
the  tasks  of  our  commonest  day.  Then  we  shall  do  them  all  well, 
slurring  nothing,  marring  nothing.  We  want  heart  peace  before 
we  begin  any  day's  duties,  and  we  should  wait  at  Christ's  feet  ere 
we  go  forth. — /.  R.  Miller. 

The  purest  forms  of  our  own  religion  have  always  consisted 
in  sacrificing  less  things  to  win  greater;  time,  to  win  eternity;  the 
world,  to  win  the  skies.  The  order,  "sell  that  thou  hast,"  is  not 
given  without  the  promise — "thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven;" 


THE  JOY  OF   SALVATION  363 

w 

and  well  for  the  modern  Christian  if  he  accepts  the  alternative  as 
his  Master  left  it — and  does  not  practically  read  the  command  and 
promise  thus:  Sell  that  thou  hast  in  the  best  market,  and  thou 
shalt  have  treasure  in  eternity  also. — Ruskin. 

Religion,  to  be  worth  possessing,  must  have  a  life-giving,  life- 
molding,  hope-inspiring  power.  If  it  consists  only  in  the  observ- 
ance of  forms  and  ceremonies,  counting  beads  and  attending  early 
masses;  in  other  words,  if  it  only  imposes  weary  burdens  upon  its 
votaries,  or  fails  to  cure  the  soul  of  doubts,  fears,  and  evil  pro- 
pensities, then  it  is  utterly  worthless.  Some  one  has  well  written, 
"We  want  religion  that  softens  the  step,  and  turns  the  voice  to 
melody,  and  fills  the  eye  with  sunshine,  and  checks  the  impatient 
exclamation  and  harsh  rebuke;  a  religion  that  is  polite,  deferential 
to  superiors,  considerate  to  friends;  a  religion  that  goes  into  the 
family  and  keeps  the  husband  from  being  cross  when  dinner  is 
late,  and  keeps  the  wife  from  fretting  when  the  husband  tracks 
the  newly  washed  floor  with  his  boots,  and  makes  the  husband 
mindful  of  the  scraper  and  the  door  mat;  keeps  the  mother  patient 
when  the  baby  is  cross,  and  amuses  the  children  as  well  as  instructs 
them;  cares  for  the  servants,  besides  paying  them  promptly;  pro- 
jects the  honeymoon  into  the  harvest  moon,  and  makes  the  happy 
home  like  the  eastern  fig-tree,  bearing  on  its  bosom  at  once  the 
tender  blossom  and  the  glory  of  the  ripening  fruit.  We  want  a 
religion  that  shall  interpose  between  the  ruts  and  gullies  and  rocks 
of  the  highway  and  the  sensitive  souls  that  are  traveling  over 
them." — Religious  Telescope, 

Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness. — 1.  Religion's  way  is 
a  safe  way.  Walking  in  religion's  ways  we  have  God  as  our 
keeper.  "He  that  keepeth  Israel  shall  neither  slumber  nor  sleep." 
God  walks  with  us  and  by  us  and  keeps  us  from  harm.  When  a 
child  is  traveling  with  his  father,  he  is  not  afraid.  When  we 
enter  religion's  way,  we  begin  to  walk  with  God.  We  are  abso- 
lutely safe. 

2.  The  good  things  we  have  on  the  way  make  it  pleasant. 
We  have  all  the  good  things  of  earth  and  heaven.  The  whole 
world  belongs  to  our  Father  in  heaven.  It  is  not  true  that  the 
world  belongs  to  the  devil.      It  belongs  to  God,  and  he  controls 


364  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

it  for  the  good  of  his  people.  "Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which 
is  to  come." 

3.  The  work  we  do  on  the  way  makes  it  pleasant.  It  is  in 
accord  with  the  profoundest  philosophy,  as  well  as  with  the  widest 
experience,  that  there  is  no  such  happiness  as  that  which  springs 
from  the  effort  to  benefit  others.  A  young  boy  said  to  his  mother, 
"I  tried  to  make  little  sister  happy  while  you  were  away.  She 
would  not  be  happy ;  but  I  was  happy  trying." — Christian  Work. 

The  Stoic  says,   "Look  within,  it  is  there  you  will  find  rest ;"  but 

it  is  not  true.     Another  says,  "Look  without  you,  you  will  find 

'  happiness  in  diversion  ;"  but  that  is  not  true.      Happiness  is  neither 

without  us  nor  within  us,  it  is  in  God  alone,  and  through  him  it  is 

both  within  us  and  without. — Pascal. 

Man's  only  true  happiness  is  to  live  in  hope  of  something  to  be 
won  by  him,  in  reverence  of  something  to  be  w^orshiped  by  him, 
and  in  love  of  somethidig  to  -be  cherished  by  him,  and  cherished 
forever. — Ruskin. 

The  sweetest  joys  and  delights  I  have  experienced  have  not 
been  those  that  have  arisen  from  the  hope  of  my  own  good  estate, 
but  in  a  direct  view  of  the  glorious  things  of  the  gospel. — 
Jonathan  Edwards. 

Mysterious  joy  often  comes  into  the  hearts  of  God's  people,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  often  shines  in  their  faces.  Christian  joy 
will  make  a  homely  face  beautiful ;  a  rugged  and  seamed  face, 
if  illumined  with  the  glory  of  God,  is  a  sight  to  charm  the  soul 
of  an  artist  and  to  inspire  with  joy  the  heart  of  an  angel.  God 
loves  joy  and  not  gloom. — R.  S.  MacArthur,  D.  D. 

Every  master  knows  how  much  more  work  can  be  got  out  of  a 
servant  who  works  with  a  cheery  heart  than  out  of  one  that  is 
driven  reluctantly  to  his  task.  You  remember  our  Lord's  parable 
where  he  traces  idleness  to  fear,  "I  knew  thee  that  thou  art  an 
hard  man,  gathering  where  thou  hast  not  strawed ;  and  I  was 
afraid,  and  went  and  hid  thy  talent."  No  work  was  got  out  of 
that  servant,  because  there  was  no  joy  in  him.  The  opposite  state 
of  mind — diligence  iVi  righteous  work,  inspired  by  gladness,  which 
in  its  turn  is  inspired  by  the  remembrance  of  God's  ways — is  the 
mark  of  a  true  servant  of  God. — Alexander  Maclaren. 


THE  JOY   OF   SALVATION  365 

The  deepest  reason  why  life  looks  blue,  however,  is  that  we 
forget  the  love  of  God  to  us.  To  one  who  believes  in  the  Bible 
statement  that  "God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  might  not  perish 
tut  have  everlasting  life,"  there  is  absolutely  no  good  reason  possi- 
ble why  life  should  be  blue.  As  Paul  says  on  this  point,  "If  God 
be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?  He  that  spared  not  his  own 
Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him 
also  freely  give  us  all  things?"  All  things,  all  things,  all  things! 
Take  in  the  idea.  He  who  has  given  his  greatest  treasure  will 
surely  not  withhold  any  lesser  one.  All  things :  Care  for  your 
bodily  needs,  your  business,  your  duties,  your  anxieties,  your  sor- 
rows, your  cares  of  all  kinds.  All  things:  The  things  that  make 
life  look  blue,  your  mistakes,  your  sins,  your  selfishness,  your 
very  soul's  weakness.  Yes,  "all  things  are  yours,  and  ye  are 
Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's."  Be  sure  life  is  not  blue  to  God.  So 
get  his  view  of  it.  Trust  his  love  for  you.  Go  love  some  one 
else.  Lose  self  in  him.  Live  the  kind  of  life  he  made  you  for. 
Then  life  will  not  look  blue,  but  blessed. — H,  H.  Barstow,  in  The 
Westminster, 

Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  Jesus's  teachings  con- 
cerning the  Christian  life  present  it,  and  were  intended  to  present 
it,  as  a  thing  of  deep  and  abounding  joy.  He  meant  us  to  know 
that  religion  in  itself  is  a  joyous  experience.  Religion  is  the 
normal  attitude  and  exercise  of  the  spiritual  nature.  In  other 
words,  it  is  spiritual  health.  As  it  is  a  joy  to  be  able  to  see  and 
to  hear  the  beautiful  things  in  the  natural  world,  so  it  is  immeas- 
urably a  greater  joy  to  be  able  to  hear  and  to  see  the  glad  and 
beautiful  things  in  the  kingdom  of  God — in  the  spiritual  world. 
Religion  is  htimeasurably  more  than  the  means  of  securing  future 
happiness.  It  is  that;  but  it  is  also  happiness  and  well-being  now 
and  here,  and  all  the  way  along,  until  one  comes  into  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the  bliss  of  heaven, 

Jesus  did  tell  us,  it  is  true,  of  heaven  to  come.  He  said,  "In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions ;  *  *  *  I  go  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you."  But  he  also  made  it  very  plain  that  we  do  not 
have  to  wait  till  after  we  die  for  heaven  to  begin  with  us.     Said 


366  THE   PASTOR  IfIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

he,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  It  is  a  present  neaven 
the  Christian  enjoys,  an  inner  heaven  in  the  heart.  We  need  not 
wait  until  we  die  to  taste  the  joys  of  bliss. 

The  Bible  certainly  warrants  us  in  the  belief  that  there  is  a 
heavenly  place  somewhere  in  the  unilverse,  and  that  all  the  faithful 
shall  be  gathered  home  to  that  better  land.  We  know  not  where 
it  is;  we  have  little  idea  what  it  is.  Only  we  know  it  is  very 
blessed.  The  Bible  is  full  of  hints  and  suggestions  and  figurative 
expressions  in  an  attempt  to  give  us  some  conception  of  its  infinite 
blessedness.      But  these  are  only  hints  and  suggestions. — Hallock. 

If  we  would  but  let  imagination,  courage,  and  trust,  and  all 
the  splendid,  innate  powers  of  the  soul  come  forth  and  shape  the 
brute  facts  of  life,  what  a  picture  we  should  make!  These  powers 
are  the  cunning  of  hand  and  brush  that  change  the  raw  colors 
on  the  palette  into  the  ordered  beauty  of  the  picture.  And  how 
we  shall  lament  at  the  last  if  we  have  failed  to  put  light  enough 
into  the  canvas;  if  the  joyous  hours  have  been  too  sparse!  For 
life  has  sad  need  of  these — the  joy-crowned  hours.  And,  after 
all,  they  are  accessible.  Let  the  blow  fall,  and  when  it  comes 
say,  "This  is  for  the  making  of  strength  and  courage  and  there 
is  joy  in  that ;"  let  the  darkness  thicken  about  us  and  say,  "This 
is  that  in  the  blackest  night  sight  should  grow  keener  and  trust 
increase,  and  there  is  joy  in  that;"  let  the  bleak  rocks  of  thwart- 
ing and  obstacles  heap  themselves  mountain  high  and  say,  "This 
is  that  the  body  may  break  itself  and  let  the  soul  mount  free;"  and 
in  each  of  these  counsels  is  joy.  For  joy,  after  all,  is  something 
quite  different  from  pleasure  or  excitement  or  merriment  or  grati- 
fied desire. 

This,  too,  is  a  joyous  thought:  We  know  somewhat  of  the 
limits  of  our  bodily  strength.  If  we  are  bidden  build  a  marble 
palace,  all  of  our  own  powers,  we  can  make  a  beginning,  but  we 
know  we  shall  not  finish  it  in  a  mortal  span  of  years.  But  of 
the  measure  of  our  spiritual  powers  we  know  nothing;  only  that 
as  we  call  they  respond.  None  yet  has  come  to  the  end  of 
spiritual  response.  As  we  ask,  so  we  receive ;  as  we  will,  so  we 
have;  as  we  demand,  so  it  is  created.  So  far  as  we  know, 
spiritual  aspiration  stretches  out  into  the  infinite.  We  cannot 
exhaust  it  any  more  than  we  can  exhaust  the  universe.  At  every 
center  paths  radiate  into  eternity,  and  we  deck  them  with  thorns 


THE  JOY  OF   SALVATION  367 

and  thistles  and  rocks  or  with  stars  and  flowers  and  mossy 
couches  as  we  Hst.  Our  part  is  joy  and  faith  in  the  leading. 
See,  the  earth  does  not  despair  when  the  leaves  fall  and  the  winter 
wraps  her  round  in  an  icy  shroud.  The  stars  along  their  courses 
are  not  appalled  by  the  blackness  of  the  interstellar  spaces  or  the 
long  pursuit  ahead.  The  sky  harbors  the  moving  sun  with  all 
its  planets,  and  the  moon  waxes  and  wanes  and  draws  the  waters 
of  the  earth,  and  they  set  no  idle  questions  of  whence  and  whither. 
They  do  not  shrink  from  the  predestined  course,  but  submit  that 
by  death  as  by  life  they  be  fed.  Joy  follows  hard  on  the  traces 
of  wisdom,  and  love  and  trust,  the  keys  of  wisdom,  are  in  the 
hands  of  each  of  us. — Harper's  Weekly. 

I  well  recall  the  words  of  a  former  member  of  the  Brick  Church 
in  Rochester,  New  York,  Hannah  J.  Paul.  She  was  a  beautiful 
Christian  character,  though  for  years  an  almost  helpless  invalid. 
But  she  delighted  in  spiritual  things.  One  day  she  said  to  me,  "I 
am  living  in  heaven  now  all  the  time.  Perhaps  too  much.  Do  you 
think  so?"  No,  she  was  not;  but  she  had  this  inner  kingdom — 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  the  heart,  and  she  was  enjoying  it. — 
Selected. 

A  shining  face  is  suggestive  of  a  peaceful  spirit,  and  a  musical 
voice  of  a  properly  attuned  soul.  It  thus  comes  to  pass  that  when 
men  have  lived  with  God  they  carry  the  very  glory  of'  God  in 
their  faces.  It  would  not  be  surprising  if  ever  after  that  moment 
until  his  mysterious  death,  Moses  was  a  different  man  in  face  and 
in  spirit  from  what  he  had  ever  been  before.  This  interview  may 
have  contributed  to  the  vigor  of  his  old  age.  There  are  marvel- 
ously  mysterious  laws  of  life;  we  have  not  yet  mastered  them  in 
their  full  meaning.  There  is  a  broad  margin  of  mystery  lying 
between  the  known  and  the  unknown,  between  life  and  death,  and 
between  sJckness  and  health.  We  occasionally  make  incursions 
into  that  margin  of  territory,  and  we  often  carry  back  therefrom 
some  new  knowledge;  but  in  the  years  to  come,  parents,  phy- 
sicians, and  clergymen  will  have  vastly  enlarged  spheres  of  knowl- 
edge— knowledge  of  which  now  we  only  dream  in  our  loftiest 
moments.  There  are  times  when  we  are  just  as  distinctly  con- 
scious that  God  pours  physical  vigor  into  us  as  we  are  that  we 
are  alive.      In  our  every-day  life  we  live  too  far  away  from  God, 


368  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

and  the  result  is  that  we  fail  to  receive  from  God  copious  supplies 
in  physical  vigor,  in  mental  force,  and  in  spiritual  power  and 
joy. — Mac  Arthur. 

The  way  to  happiness  does  not  lie  in  attempting  to  bring  our 
circumstances  up  to  our  minds,  but  our  minds  down  to  our  cir- 
cumstances. Many  birds  wear  a  finer  coat  than  the  lark,  nor  is 
there  any  that  dwells  in  a  lowlier  home ;  yet  which  of  the  feathered 
songsters  soars  so  high  or  sings  so  merrily,  or  teaches  man  so 
well  how  to  leave  the  day's  cares  and  labors  for  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  as  when,  neither  envying  the  peacock  his  splendid  plumage, 
nor  the  proud  eagle  her  lofty  realm,  it  drops  singing  into  its  grassy 
nest,  to  caress  its  young,  and  with  its  wings  to  shield  them  from 
the  cold  dews  of  the  night?  To  indulge  an  unsanctified  and 
insatiable  ambition  to  attempt  to  bring  our  circumstances  up  to 
our  minds,  is  to  fill  a  sieve  with  water,  or  the  grave  with  dead, 
or  the  sea  with  rivers.  The  passions  that  in  such  a  case  seek 
gratification  are  like  the  wretched  drunkard's  thirst;  they  burn 
the  fiercer  for  indulgence,  and  crave  for  more  the  more  they  get. 
It  is  often  difficult,  I  grant,  to  bring  our  minds  down  to  our  cir- 
cumstances, but  he  attempts,  not  a  difficult,  but  an  impossible 
thing  who  attempts  to  bring  his  circumstances  up  to  the  height  of 
his  ambition.  Nature,  says  the  old  adage,  is  contended  with  little, 
grace  with  less,  lust  with  nothing.  And  ours  be  the  happiness 
of  him  who,  content  with  less  than  little,  pleased  with  whatever 
pleases  the  Father,  careful  for  nothing,  thankful  for  anything, 
prayerful  in  everything,  can  say,  with  Paul,  I  have  learned,  in 
whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content. — Thomas  Guthrie, 
D.  D. 

Wise  remark  was  that  of  old  Thomas  a'Kempis,  "If  the 
frame  of  thy  soul  were  in  right  order,  and  thou  wert  inwardly 
pure,  all  outward  things  would  conduce  to  thy  improvement  in 
holiness,  and  work  together  for  thy  everlasting  good.  Because 
thou  art  disgusted  by  a  thousand  objects  and  disturbed  by  a  thou- 
sand events,  it  is  evident  thou  art  not  yet  crucified  to  the  world, 
nor  the  world  yet  crucified  to  thee."  When  one  is  lost  in  the  will 
of  God,  his  divine  Father,  an  intense  satisfaction  of  rest  comes 
over  his  spirit.  He  is  in  conflict  with  no  one;  he  loves  God,  and 
he  loves  every  one  God  loves. — Selected. 


THE  JOY  OF   SALVATION  369 

Write  on  your  daybook,  on  your  ledger,  on  your  money  safe, 
"Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof."  Do  not  worry  about 
notes  that  are  far  from  due.  Do  not  pile  up  on  your  counting 
desk  the  financial  anxieties  of  the  next  twenty  years.  Melancholy 
is  the  owl  that  is  perched  in  many  a  Christian  soul.  The  good 
times,  if  we  will  but  believe  it,  are  now;  the  better  times  are  not 
backward — but  beyond.  We  believe,  as  in  the  past,  so  in  the 
future,  the  world  will  grow  better  and  better.  By-and-by  the 
world  and  all  that  is  therein  shall  pass  away,  but  in  the  new 
heavens  and  the  earth  righteousness,  only  righteousness,  shall 
dwell ;  and  cheerfulness  and  growth  will  ever  mark  the  progress 
of  the  soul. — Talmage. 

Oh,  if  you  would  read  the  Bible  more;  if  you  would  search  it 
for  some  of  the  promises ;  if  you  would  say,  "I  am  going  to  free 
myself  of  some  of  these  cares  that  cut  my  joy  in  pieces,  by  casting 
them  on  God."  Think  of  that  verse,  ''All  things  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  love  God."  Suppose  cares  come  on  you. 
Take  the  sword  of  the  Spirit;  stab  the  cares  with  that  text,  "All 
things  work  together."  Do  you  think  that  the  cares  can  live? 
You  will  have  life  and  joy  and  peace. 

Paul  had  an  awful  care,  a  thorn  in  the  flesh.  It  cut  him  to 
pieces;  it  interfered  with  his  duties.  He  prayed  over  it  once,  and 
again  and  again  and  again.  Then  came  the  word,  "My  grace  is 
sufficient  for  thee."  The  thorn  was  there,  but  he  kept  thinking 
of  Christ  and  his  grace. 

Then  there  was  William  the  Prince  of  Orange,  through  whose 
labors  and  sufferings  our  liberties  were  born.  When  overwhelmed 
with  cares,  he  threw  all  on  God,  saying,  "God  will  order  all  that 
is  needed  for  my  salvation." 

This  care  of  God  does  not  contemplate  our  being  without  discip- 
line. Rather  it  includes  our  discipline.  I  once  spent  a  red-letter 
afternoon  in  the  studio  of  Powers,  at  Florence.  I  saw  the  blocks 
of  Carara  marble ;  I  saw  the  same  blocks  half  sculptured.  As 
the  sculptor's  chisel  cut  great  scars  in  the  marble,  it  seemed  as 
if  it  were  conscious,  and  as  if  I  could  hear  it  speak,  and  say, 
"O  sculptor,  keep  on  till  you  set  free  the  being,  the  angel  perhaps 
that  is  confined  in  me.     Give  me  this,  though  I  die  of  the  pain." 


370  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

So  you  have  pain,  trouble.  Well,  it  is  God's  process  of  dis- 
cipline through  which  he  is  bringing  you  to  your  shining. — Way- 
land  Hoyt. 

In  the  light  of  what  has  been  said,  a  little  reflection  will  show 
how  sound  religion  affects  the  body  beneficially  and  how  irreligion 
or  a  perverted  religion  must  have  disastrous  nervous  consequences. 
The  consciousness  of  God,  which  is  the  essence  of  religion,  is,  as 
has  been  said,  essential  to  our  normal  life  and  health.  Suppose, 
now,  this  consciousness  is  weakened  or  neglected  and  begins 
gradually  to  thin  and  vanish  away,  there  is  left  a  vacant  place 
in  the  soul,  into  which  inevitably  will  pour  fears,  misgivings,  fore- 
bodings and  all  those  mental  miseries  that  turn  life  into  a  tissue 
of  impracticalities.  This  is  the  inevitable  result  when  a  man  or  a 
woman  loses  faith  in  that  "Power  which  shapes  our  ends,  rough- 
hew  them  how  we  will."  With  truth  says  Professor  Dubois, 
agnostic  though  he  be,  *Tt  is  not  safe  for  a  man  to  pass  through 
this  world  without  a  religion  or  at  least  a  philosophy."  It  has 
been  our  experience  in  the  Emanuel  clinic  that,  other  things  being 
equal,  wherever  faith  in  God  can  be  created,  or  if  it  has  died  out, 
can  be  reawakened,  the  chance  of  recovery  from  nervous  disorder 
is  always  greater  than  where  this  condition  does  not  exist.  Do  you 
ask  why?  Because  this  faith  calms  the  mind,  quells  the  anarchy 
created  by  worry  and  fear,  and  thus  indirectly  constrains  the 
nervous  organism  to  harmony  and  peace,  and  through  the  nervous 
organism  benefits  the  whole  body.  At  bottom,  the  majority  of 
functional  nervous  disorders  are  diseases  of  character,  and  such 
diseases  can  be  cured  only  by  forces  that  are  moral  and  spiritual, 
and  the  greatest  of  these  is  faith, — Samuel  McComh,  D.  D. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  Singing  Pilgrim. 
Mr.  Robson,  of  Shields,  once  had  to  go  down  into  a  coal  mine 
to  consult  a  miner  about  some  evidence  wanted  at  once.  When 
he  got  to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  he  asked  the  man  in  charge 
how  he  could  find  his  client.  "Oh!"  he  replied,  "you  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  finding  him.  He  is  one  of  your  blessed  Methodists, 
and  is  sure  to  be  singing."  As  Robson  went  along  the  dreary 
drift  of  the  mine,  he  said  to  himself,  "Surely  if  a  man  be  singing 
here,  it  must  be  'Plunged  in  a  gulf  of  dark  despair  we  wretched 
sinners  lay !'  "  But  he  had  not  gone  verv  far  when  he  heard  a 
cheery  voice  singing: 

"I've  reached  the  land  of  corn  and  wine, 

And  all  its  riches  freely  mine. 

Here  shines  undimmed  one  perfect  day. 

And  all  my  night  has  passed  away." 
That  is  what  the  grace  of  God  can  do.     It  can  turn  night  into 
day  and  sorrow  into  song. — J.  H.  7owett. 

The  Peace  of  God. 

Loch  Lomond,  in  Scotland,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sheets 
of  placid  water  in  the  world.  It  is  often  visited  by  tourists  from 
all  nations.  An  album  is  kept  in  the  famous  belfry  near  Rossdhu 
Castle,  in  which  are  recorded  some  of  the  first  impulsive  exclama- 
tions of  distinguished  persons,  just  as  uttered  when  the  exquisite 
prospect  burst  suddenly  upon  them  from  the  outlook.  John 
MacDonald,  the  venerable  old  man,  seemed  struck  with  an  affect- 
ing sense  of  its  suggestiveness  as  a  spiritual  symbol.  He  was 
subdued  into  a  meditative  silence  all  the  hour  that  he  spent  on  the 
spot.  It  was  observed  that  he  scarcely  spoke  aloud.  What  he 
was  thinking  about,  however,  it  is  greatly  interesting  to  discover 
from  a  letter  he  wrote.  In  this  he  fairly  quotes  a  verse  of  Scrip- 
ture as  his  best  form  of  description,  "Oh,  how  sweet  and 
tranquil  was  the  bosom  of  that  lake!  As  I  sat  there,  I  thought 
of  "the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding." — Charles 
S.  Rohinsofij  D.  D. 


372  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

The  Call  of  the  Other  World. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  a  friend  dug  from  the  woods  a  clod  of  earth, 
black  and  heavy,  without  a  suggestion  of  life,  and  incased  about 
the  edges  with  ice  and  snow.  Placed  in  an  earthen  dish,  it  has 
stood  since  then  in  my  window,  where  the  sun  has  poured  its 
warmth  into  the  heart  of  the  cold,  dark  clod.  I  held  it  in  my 
hand  today,  and  was  thrilled  with  the  mystery  of  its  beauty! 
Every  part  of  that  once  cold  bit  of  earth  is  covered  now  with 
greenness  and  flowers.  Tiny  blossoms,  so  dainty  and  sweet  as 
only  the  woods  produce,  varieties  of  grasses,  little  embryo  bushes 
— the  whole  rich,  productive  forest  is  here  in  miniature.  I  have 
studied  it  eagerly,  thrilled  by  its  lesson.  Who  would  have  dreamed 
of  this  development  when  first  this  bit  of  ice-bound  earth  was 
brought  to  me?  But  the  possibilities  all  were  there;  the  seed  of 
every  beautiful  growth  was  hidden  within  it.  Dropped  by  the 
passing  wind,  they  had  lain  under  the  winter  snows,  waiting  the 
touch  of  spring. 

Thus  in  your  heart  and  mine  has  God  put  wondrous  possibilities. 
They  wait  only  to  "know  the  power  of  his  resurrection"  to  spring 
into  the  beauty  and  bloom.  Put  them  where  the  great  sun  can 
reach  them !  Let  the  warmth  of  the  light  divine  strike  to  their 
roots,  and  lo !  what  marvel  of  development  we  see.  And  after 
the  winter  of  death  is  over,  who  shall  foretell  the  possibilities 
of  the  life  eternal  through  the  power  of  him  who  was  dead,  but 
is  alive  for  evermore? 

Oh,  if  we  could  only  lift  up  our  hearts  and  live  with  him ! 
Live  new  lives,  high  lives  of  love  and  hope  and  holiness,  to  which 
death  should  be  nothing  but  the  breaking  away  of  the  last  cloud 
and  the  letting  of  the  life  out  to  its  completion. — J.  M.  Buckley, 
D.  D. 

Godliness  is  Profitable. 

The  funeral  was  over  and  the  friends  walked  away.  The 
minister  overtook  an  old  man  and  walked  beside  him.  He  had 
been  the  partner  and  for  fifty  years  the  frifend  of  the  man  who 
had  gone. 

*Tf  there  is  any  man  who  knows  a  man,"  said  the  old  man 
to  the  minister,  "it  is  his  partner.  He  sees  both  sides  of  him, 
sees  him  in  his  dealings  with  others  when  the  interest  of  the  two 
is  the  same,  and  sees  him  in  the  adjustments  of  matters  within  the 


THE  JOY   OF   SALVATION  373. 

firm  where  each  ife  looking  out  for  his  own.  If  any  man  knows 
whether  that  man  was  an  honest  man,  whether  his  reUgion  lasted 
all  the  week  through  and  all  the  year  round,  I  know  it.  And  I 
tell  you  he  was  a  man,  every  inch  of  him.  His  religion  was  in 
the  sixteen  ounces  he  put  into  every  pound;  it  measured  thirty-six 
inches  to  every  yard.      That  man  had  religion." 

"I  am  sure  of  it,"  said  the  minister,  "and  such  a  character  is  ' 
worth  many  sermons  as  a  proof  of  what  religion  really  is.      It  is 
fitting  that  such  a  life  should  live  on  in  heaven." 

"Yes,"  said  the  old  man,  "and  I  believe  it  will.  But  even  if  I 
knew  that  it  would  not,  I  should  say,  'This  life  has  been  worth 
while.'  " 

"Goodness  is  always  worth  while,"  said  the  pastor. 

"Tell  me  this,"  said  the  old  man.  "What  would  you  do,  what 
would  you  say,  if  next  time  you  stand  in  the  pulpit,  there  should 
come  to  you  and  to  your  congregation  the  absolute  knowledge 
that  all  your  hopes  and  beliefs  about  heaven  are  wrong;  that  this 
world  is  all  that  you  have  ever  known  and  all  you  are  ever  to 
know?     What  would  you  say  to  your  people?" 

"What  should  I  say?"  repeated  the  minister,  "I  might  be  too 
much  disappointed  and  grieved  to  speak  at  all,  for  I  believe  in 
immortality,  and  the  faith  grows  more  dear  and  more  sure  with 
each  life  such  as  this  we  have  known.  But  I  think  I  know  what 
I  should  say  if  such  sudden  knowledge  came  to  me  and  my  con- 
gregation. I  should  say,  'Brethren,  there  will  be  service  here  as 
usual  on  next  Sunday  morning  at  half-past  ten.  And  this  will 
be  my  text:  Godliness  is  profitable  *  *  having  promise  of 
the  life  that  now  is.'  " 

"It's  a  good  text,"  said  the  older  man. — Youth's  Companion. 

Take  Christ  With  You  for  Joy. 

"I  hope  you'll  have  a  pleasant  time,  son,"  said  I,  as  the  latter 
was  starting  out  to  spend  the  evening. 

"Thank  you;  I  always  do,  for  I  take  it  with  me,"  was  the  reply. 

And  that  is  a  great  big  secret.  Most  people  wish  to  have  a 
good  time.  And  that's  right.  But  so  many  of  them  seem  to 
fail.     Why  don't  they  take  it  with  them  ?     They  can ;  they  should. 

Going  on  an  outing  with  some  friends,  a  young  lady,  before 
starting,  put  a  spray  of  sweet  eglantine  in  her  bosom.      She  quite 


374  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

forgot  its  presence.  But  all  day  long  she  and  her  intimate  com- 
panions kept  getting  the  delicious  odor  of  the  sweet  brier  and 
wondered  where  it  was. 

So  in  all  your  life.  The  good  time  is  in  you.  It  is  with  you 
as  to  whether  you  have  good  neighbors  and  find  pleasant  people 
everywhere  you  go.  The  glory  of  the  heavens,  the  gorgeous- 
ness  of  the  sunrise  and  the  sunset,  the  sweetness  of  bird  songs, 
the  beauty  of  waving  trees  and  blooming  flowers,  the  very  good- 
ness of  God  itself — all  are  in  you,  all  depend  on  what  you  are, 
on  what  you  have  brought  with  you. 

What  kind  of  a  time  do  you  want  to  have?  It  rests  with  you. 
Will  you  walk  in  clear  light  or  stumble  along  in  gloom?  Will 
you  be  strong  and  joyous  or  weak  and  sad?     It  rests  with  you. 

A  Well  of  Living  Water  Within. 

Some  years  ago,  my  friend,  Dr.  Handley  Moule,  visited  the 
excavations  in  the  Forum  at  Rome.  While  there,  as  the  rubbish 
was  being  cleared  away,  suddenly  there  gushed  forth  the  waters 
of  a  spring  that  had  been  choked  for  centuries.  Poor  little 
spring!  Longing  to  express  itself,  and  flash  in  the  sunlight,  but 
choked  by  the  accumulation  of  the  years!  Let  us  see  to  it  that 
our  lives  are  as  a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto  everlasting 
life;  if  not,  let  us  ask  God  to  clear  the  rubbish  away  that  the 
water  may  flow. — F,  B,  Meyer. 

The  Christian's  Triumph  Over  Trials. 

Humboldt  tells  of  being  deeply  touched  and  impressed  by  find- 
ing a  beautiful  flower  on  the  edge  of  the  crater  of  Vesuvius.  In 
a  little  hollow  in  the  lava,  ashes  and  dust  had  settled,  and  when 
rain  had  fallen  there  was  a  cupful  of  rich  soil  ready.  Then  a 
bird  or  the  wind  had  borne  a  seed  and  dropped  it  into  this  bit  of 
garden  on  the  crater's  lip,  and  a  sweet  flower  grew  there.  No 
wonder  the  great  traveler  was  so  moved  by  such  a  glimpse  of 
beauty  in  such  a  place. 

The  Kingdom  First. 
"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  all  these  things  shall 
be   added   unto   you."      This   principle   of   the   kingdom,    like   all 
divine  laws,  is  always  fulfilling  itself.      Charging  that  the  churches 


THE  JOY   OF   SALVATION  37J 

are  in  possession  of  the  prosperous  people  is  only  putting  the  cart 
before  the  horse.  A  proper  statement  is  that  true  church  life 
results  in  prosperity. — The  Advance. 

Christ  Our  Peace. 

At  a  takaya,  or  shrine,  outside  the  city  of  Cabul,  there  lived  a 
Moslem  mystic  who  decided  to  visit  India  in  order. to  ascertain 
what  the  "foreigner"  taught  regarding  Jesus.  He  came  by  the 
way  of  the  Khyber  Pass,  and  first  visited  the  Church  of  England 
Mission,  at  Peshawur.  Then  he  went  to  the  Presbyterian  Mission 
at  Rawul  Pindee,  and  afterward  to  the  Baptist  Mission  at  Delhi, 
the  Methodist  Mission  at  Lucknow,  the  Moravian  Mission  in 
Lahoul,  the  Romanist  in  Calcutta,  and  so  on  for  a  period  of  three 
years  or  more.  And  then  he  returned  to  the  shrine  of  his  fore- 
fathers. People  from  far  and  near  came  to  see  him  and  asked 
him  to  tell  his  story. 

Putting  his  hand  to  his  forehead,  and  then  stroking  his  beard, 
he  said,  "Oh,  I  was  bewildered!  There  was  so  much  of  it.  For 
the  prophet  truly  said  the  Christians  are  divided  into  seventy-two 
sects.  But  there  was  one  central  truth  which  I  think  I  can  put 
into  a  Persian  aphorism,  and  it  is  this :  Maseeh  eem  roz  aram — 
Christ  is  peace  today." — The  Homiletic  Review. 

The  Christian's  Joy. 
I  used  to  visit  a  woman  engaged  in  a  "sweated  industry."  She 
lived  in  a  small,  ill-lighted,  unsanitary  room  in  a  slum.  She 
worked  through  the  weary  days  and  knew  nothing  of  holidays. 
Her  wage  was  small,  her  occupation  precarious,  and  her  health 
indifferent;  yet  she  would  work  away,  singing  hymns,  her  favorite 
hymn  being: 

"I  feel  like  singing  all  the  time, 

My  tears  are  wiped  away. 
For  Jesus  is  a  friend  of  mine, 
I'll  praise  him  all  the  day." 

The  "sweated"  woman  was  one  of  the  happiest  beings  I  have  ever 
known.  What  was  her  secret?  What  prompted  her  happiness? 
It  was  religion — ^the  religion  of  Christ.  And  the  religion  of 
Christ  is  the  supreme  factor  in  inspiring  cheerfulness  in  adversity. 

Herein  is  the  chief  glory  of  Christianity;  its  message  of  good 
cheer.      When  Jesus  came  to  humanity,  the  world  was  shrouded 


376  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

in  dull  care.  Cheerfulness  was  associated  with  sensual  pleasure. 
God  was  a  mystery,  the  future  life  black  with  uncertainty.  Jesus 
came — the  Light  of  the  World — and  at  his  coming  the  angel 
declared  to  the  shepherds,  "Behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of 
great  joy." — The  Cheerful  Life. 

Anticipating  Heaven. 

It  was  said  of  a  pious  old  Puritan  that  heaven  was  in  him 
before  he  got  to  heaven.  A  Scotchman  being  asked  if  ever  he 
expected  to  go  to  heaven,  gave  the  quaint  reply,  "Why,  mon,  I  live 
there!"  Yes,  ?t  is  our  privilege  to  live  in  these  spiritual  things 
which  are  the  essential  features  of  heaven,  and  often  go  there 
before  we  go  to  stay  there.  Heaven  consists  in  nothing  else  than 
living,  walking,  abiding,  resting  in  the  divine  presence.  There 
are  many  souls  who  enter  into  this  heaven  before  leaving  the  body. 

A  friend  thought  to  comfort  a  poor  blind  man  by  bewailing  his 
sightless  condition — a  poor  kind  of  comfort,  surely — but  added, 
"But  you  have  the  great  consolation ;  you  will  soon  be  in  heaven." 
The  poor  man,  raising  his  sightless  eyes,  replied,  "Soon  in  heaven, 
did  you  say?  Why,  I  have  been  there  these  ten  years!"  When 
Edward  Payson  was  dying,  he  said,  "If  I  had  known  twenty- 
five  years  ago  what  I  know  now,  I  might  have  walked  in  the  light 
of  the  new  Jerusalem  all  these  years."  He  had  just  entered  the 
Beulah  Land  experience. — G,  B.  F.  Hallock,  D,  D. 

Scattering  Joy. 

When  that  queen  of  singers,  Jenny  Lind,  was  once  singing  at 
Cincinnati,  there  was  a  poor  woman  dying  of  consumption  in  the 
great  city;  of  course,  an  utter  stranger  to  the  singer.  She  had 
two  little  children,  who  had  a  strangely  longing  desire  to  hear  the 
"Swedish  nightingale."  Their  mother's  poverty  utterly  prevented 
her  granting  their  wish.  But  the  little  ones  thought  if  they  could 
"only  see  her,"  it  would  be  some  consolation,  and  they  resolved 
to  carry  her  as  a  gift  the  greatest  treasure  they  had — a  beautiful 
lily  they  had  reared. 

Their  request  to  see  her  at  the  hotel  was  somewhat  roughly 
refused;  but  still  they  urged  their  plea,  until  the  childish  voices 
attracted  the  attention  of  Jenny  LJnd,  who  was  in  an  adjoining 
room.     Opening  the  door,  she  inquired  their  errand,  and,  learning 


THE  JOY   OF   SALVATION  377 

of  their  wish  to  see  her  and  hear  her,  she  placed  in  their  hands 
a  "family"  ticket  for  four  people,  and  accepted  the  lily  with  loving 
words  of  thanks.  That  evening,  the  audience  noticed  that  in  lieu 
of  the  costly  floral  offerings  sent  her  that  day,  the  piano  simply 
bore  a  pot  containing  a  lily,  and  they  saw  also  that  as  she  left  the 
platform  she  looked  down  on  the  front  row  and  threw  a  kiss  to 
two  happy  children  seated  there.  Little  marvel  is  it  that  all  of 
us,  who  recall  Jenny  Lind  and  her  marvelous  singing,  love  even 
better  to  remember  her  beautiful  Christian  life  and  the  numberless 
merciful  and  loving  deeds  that  so  adorned  it. — Christian  Endeavor 
World. 

Light  for  the  Way. 

A  boy  was  walking  with  his  father  along  a  lonely  road  at  night, 
carrying  a  lantern.  He  told  his  father  he  was  afraid,  because  the 
lantern  showed  such  a  little  way  ahead.  The  father  answered, 
"That  is  so,  but  if  you  walk  straight  on,  you  will  find  that  the 
light  will  reach  to  the  end  of  the  journey."  God  often  gives  us 
light  for  only  a  little  way  ahead,  but  he  always  gives  at  least  that, 
and  so  he  always  gives  us  light  enough  for  the  whole  journey. — 
Christian  Endeavor  World. 

God  is  Responsible. 

A  number  of  men  were  once  talking  about  the  burdens  of  duty, 
and  one  of  them  declared  that  they  were  sometimes  too  heavy  to 
be  borne,  "Not,"  said  another,  "if  you  carry  only  your  own 
burden,  and  don't  try  to  take  God's  work  out  of  his  hands.  Last 
year  I  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  one  of  the  most  skillful  and  faith- 
ful captains  of  the  great  liners.  We  had  a  terrific  storm,  during 
which  for  thirty-eight  hours  he  remained  on  the  bridge,  striving 
to  save  his  passengers.  When  the  danger  was  over,  I  said  to 
him,  'It  must  be  a  terrible  thought  at  such  a  time  that  you  are 
responsible  for  the  lives  of  over  a  thousand  human  beings.'  'No,* 
he  said  solemnly,  T  am  not  responsible  for  the  life  of  one  man  on 
this  ship.  My  responsibility  is  to  run  the  ship  with  all  the  skill 
and  faithfulness  possible  to  any  man.  God  himself  is  responsible 
for  all  the  rest.'  " — The  Christian  Age, 


378  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Peace   in   Christ. 

The  peace  of  God  cannot  be  understood  by  reason  of  its  inex- 
haustibleness.  This  characteristic  centers  upon  the  fullness  of  the 
provision  which  has  been  made  for  each  child,  and  for  all  the 
children  of  God.  We  can  never  attain  to  the  limit  of  it.  It 
reaches  the  simplest  need  and  it  can  mount  to  the  loftiest  necessity. 
It  embraces  the  atom  and  the  empire  and  steadies  every  anxious 
heart  with  a  repose  that  knows  no  cessation  or  disturbance.  There 
is  really  no  end  set  for  the  frankness  or  the  child-like  simplicity 
with  which  old  John  MacDonald,  up  there  in  the  belfry,  could 
bring  all  his  daily  harassments  before  his  almighty  Friend,  casting 
any  burden  of  care  whatsoever  upon  him.  But  it  is  easy  to  know 
why  such  a  deep-souled  believer  found  it  impossible  to  make  any 
remarks  fit  to  be  put  in  an  album;  and  why  he  said,  as  the  best  he 
had  to  offer  finally,  that  the  lake  made  him  think  of  what  passed 
his  understanding. — Interior, 


SERVICE  FIFTEEN— Friday  Evening 
The  Call  of  the  Other  World 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XV 

In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions. — John  14:2. 

To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me 
in  my  throne. — Rev.  3:21. 

And  there  shall  be  no  night  there. — Rev.  22:^. 

For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time 
are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory 
which  shall  be  revealed  in  us. — Rom.  8:18. 

He  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap 

life  everlasting. — Gal.  6:8. 

And  every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  *  *  * 
or  lands,  for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive  an 
hundredfold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting  life. — 
Matt.  Jp:2p. 

Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life;  in  thy  presence 
is  fulness  of  joy;  at  thy  right  hand  there  are 
pleasures  for  evermore. — Ps.  16:11. 

And  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. — Rev.  22:5. 

And  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow, 
nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain. — 
Rev.  21:4, 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions. — John  14:2. 

1.  God,  our  Father. 

2.  Heaven,  our  Father's  house. 

3.  Room  for  all.    (John   10:16.) 

4.  The  sanctifying  influence  of  heavenly  anticipation. 


To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my 
throne. — Rev.  3:21. 

1.  Sharers  of  Christ's  holiness  here — saints. 

2.  Sharers  of  Christ's  power  here — overcomers. 

3.  Sharers   of    Christ's   glory   there — "with    me    on    my 

throne." 


And  there  shall  be  no  night  there. — Rev.  22:5. 

1.  No  night  of  sin.     "In  darkest  Africa,   London,  Chi- 

cago." 

2.  No  night  of  sorrow.     Shadowed  homes. 

3.  No  night  of  death.    "The  valley  of  the  shadow"  past. 


For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed 
in  us. — Rom.  8:18 

1.  In    comparison   with   heaven's   glory,    deprivation   of 

earth's  prizes  will  seem  a  trifle. 

2.  Present  afflictions  light. 

3.  What  shall  be  revealed  to  sight  then  is  revealed  to 

faith  now. 


He  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  ever- 
lasting.— Gal.  6:8. 

1.  The  universal  law  of  harvest, 

2.  Serving  to  the  Spirit — consecrated  living. 

3.  The  glorious  harvest — eternal  joy. 


382  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

And  everyone  that  hath  forsaken  houses  *  *  *  or  lands 
for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundredfold,  and  shall 
inherit  everlasting  life. — Matt.   19:29. 

1.  It    costs    heavily    to    follow    Christ:     Crosses,    self- 

denial,      self-sacrifice,     relinquishment     of     many 
earthly  prizes,  sometimes  martyrdom. 

2.  But  it  costs  heavily  to  follow  Satan ;  in   character, 

in  reputation,  in  peace  of  mind,  in  final  despair. 

3.  Present    sacrifice    for    Christ    sustained    by    glorious 

anticipations  of  present  and  future  recompense. 

Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life;  in  thy  presence  is  fulness 
of  joy;  at  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore. — 
Ps.  16:11. 

1.  The  paths  of  death  and  life. 

2.  The   latter  leads   to   glory. 

3.  Guidance  assured  for  God's  children. 

And  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and  everj — Rev.  22:5. 

1.  Militant   here;   exiled   heirs   to   the   throne. 

2.  Triumphant  there;  "reign." 

3.  Everlasting  glory;  "forever." 

And  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying, 
neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain.^ — Rev.  21 :4. 

1.  No  tears  there.     "Do  ye  hear  the  children  weeping?" 

2.  No  suffering  there.     Earth's  hospitals,  asylums,  wars, 

pestilences,   famines. 

3.  No  death. 

4.  "Thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory." 


SUGGESTIONS 

Occasional  afternoon  Bible  readings  may  be  held  to  advan- 
tage. Major  Whittle  was  accustomed  to  lay  special  stress  on 
these  for  deepening  the  spiritual  life,  and  stimulating  to  personal 
work.  A  topic,  consecration  or  soul-winning,  for  instance,  was 
selected.  Bible  passages  on  it  were  distributed  on  slips,  and  as 
they  were  read,  the  leader  commented  on  them. 

The  writer  has  found  it  best  to  postpone  the  formal  reception  of 
members  into  the  church  for  several  weeks,  or  even  a  month  or 
two,  after  the  close  of  the  services.  This  will  afford  an  oppor- 
tunity for  holding  a  semi-weekly  or  weekly  training  class,  thus 
leading  those  who  unite  with  the  church  to  a  more  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  significance  of  the  step. 

In  this  interval,  between  the  close  of  the  services  and  the 
service  for  the  reception  of  members,  frequently,  a  number  of  those 
who  have  been  hesitating,  will  reach  a  final  decision.  It  will  also 
give  the  pastor  and  others  additional  opportunity  for  personal 
work. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Fear  of  death  made  Louis  XV,  of  France,  a  coward.  He  would 
not  suffer  death  to  be  spoken  of,  and  avoided  whatever  would 
bring  it  to  mind.  It  was  but  the  device  of  the  ostrich,  but  it 
shows  hrs  terror  of  the  grim  monarch.  The  vague,  untried  un- 
certainties of  death  render  it  naturally  frightful  to  all.  The 
heathen  emperor,  passing  through  dark  agonies  into  the  unknown, 
asked  of  his  soul,  "Into  what  places  art  thou  now  departing?" 
But  the  Christian,  fronting  death,  knows  that  his  soul  departs  into 
the  bosom  of  Infinite  Love,  and  into  mansions  prepared,  and  he 
finds  refuge  from  the  fear  of  death  in  the  clear  faith  of  an  immor- 
tal life.     To  him  whose  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

There  is  no  death !  what  seems  so  is  transition ; 

This  life  of  mortal  breath  is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  elysian. 

Whose  portals  we  call  death. — The  Ripening  Experience  of  Life. 

Some  one  has  well  expressed  the  Christian's  good  estate.  "He 
has  grace  in  possession  and  glory  in  reserve."  The  Christian  '^ 
a  sojourner.  He  is  a  traveler.  He  is  enjoying  the  scenes  of  a 
foreign  clime.  But  his  richest  possessions  are  at  home.  His  real 
investments  are  in  his  native  land.  The  Christian  is  looking 
toward  and  for  heaven.  He  is  hoping,  expecting;  yea,  seeing  its 
glories  dimly  outlined  and  foreshadowed.  He  is  having  now  the 
earnest,  the  first-fruits,  the  foretaste  of  bliss  immortal.  By  the 
temporal  blessings  he  enjoys,  and  by  the  large  hope  he  indulges 
of  prospective  glory  at  God's  right  hand,  the  Christian  has  a  right 
to  say,  "The  lines  are  fallen  unto  me  in  pleasant  places ;  yea,  I 
have  a  goodly  heritage." — Hallock. 

Is  there  a  future  life?  Yes.  Because  love  never  dies.  Gifts 
such  as  prophecies  and  tongues,  possessions  such  as  principalities 
and  powers  pass  away,  but  love  abides.  It  stills  the  cry  of  pain, 
soothes  the  brow  of  care,  brushes  away  the  stain  of  sin,  paints  the 
world  with  colors  of  hope,  and  leads  the  way  to  the  mansions  of 


THE   CALL   OF  THE  OTHER  WORLD  385 

the  blessed.  I  notice  the  animal  forgets  its  offspring  when  it  is 
large  enough  to  care  for  itself  or  when  it  is  dead;  but  absence  or 
death  only  increases  man's  love.  Deep  down  in  the  heart  of  the 
father  and  mother  is  the  image  of  the  little  one — that  boy  or  girl 
who,  years  ago,  passed  into  the  unseen.  With  loving  hands  we 
hang  upon  the  wall  the  pictures  of  those  who  have  entered  upon 
higher  and  eternal  service.  Gone !  Yes,  gone !  But  we  love 
them  more  intensely.  In  our  hearts  there  is  a  deep-seated  longing 
to  see  something  of  them  all  through  eternity.  And  of  Christ, 
we  love  him  more  and  more,  and  we  shall  never  be  satisfied  until 
we  see  him  face  to  face.  Shall  love's  longing  ever  be  satisfied? 
"He  hath  not  learned  life's  lesson  well 

Who  hath  not  learned  in  hours  of  faith, 
The  truth  to  sight  and  sense  unknown. 

That  life  is  ever  lord  of  death, 

And  love  can  never  lose  its  own." — Selected. 

When  we  are  told  that  "there  will  be  no  ni'ght"  in  heaven,  that 
the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof,  we  may  naturally  suppose  at  first 
thought,  that  all  those  attributes,  and  virtues,  and  graces,  which 
shine  so  conspicuously  in  Christ,  as  we  of  the  earth  see  him,  will 
be  still  more  discernible  in  the  divine  character  as  it  is  seen  in 
heaven;  that  justice  and  holiness,  and  patience,  and  mercy,  will 
be  marked  and  characteristic  features  of  that  bright  and  happy 
place.  But,  upon  a  second  thought,  do  we  not  see  that,  strictly 
considered,  there  can  be  no  justice  in  heaven,  no  mercy,  no  faith- 
fulness, any  more  than  there  can  be  a  rainbow  on  earth  when  there 
is  no  storm-cloud.  Justice  and  mercy  and  faithfulness,  considered 
as  separate  and  distinct  attributes  of  God,  are  but  the  rainbow 
tints,  the  red,  the  orange,  the  yellow,  and  the  violet,  the  decom- 
posed elemental  parts  of  the  white  light  of  truth,  they  will  all  b^ 
there,  but  they  will  be  so  blended  as  individually  to  be  lost  in  the 
light  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  The  poet,  Schiller,  has 
expressed  with  exquisite  skill  the  relation  of  beauty  in  art  to 
truth  in  science,  in  lines  still  more  true  and  forcible  when  con- 
sidered as  setting  forth  the  separate  attributes  of  God  as  they; 
will  co-exist  in  the  light  of  his  presence  in  the  heavenly  world. 


386  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGFXIST 

"As  in  seven  tints -jof  variegated  light 
Breaks  the  lone  shimmer  of  the  lucid  white, 
As  the  seven  tints  that  paint  the  iris  bow, 
Into  the  lucid  white  dissolving  flow, 
So  truth  in  many-colored  splendor  plays, 
Now  on  the  eye  enchanted  with  its  rays, 
Now  in  one  luster  gathers  every  beam, 
And  floods  the  world  with  light,  a  single  stream." 
Yes,  heaven  will  be  flooded  with  the  light  of  truth,  but  it  will 
not  be  the  parti-colored  truth  of  single  attributes,  but  the  single 
stream  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus!      But  I  may  be  reminded 
that  there  was  a  rainbow  in  heaven — true,  but  we  must  remember 
also  that  this  was  a  visibn  of  judgment.     The  rainbow  surrounded 
the   throne   before   the   enemies   of   God   were    judged — that   was 
before  the  clouds  had  all  been  cleared  away;  that  was  while  there 
were  still  alterations  of  day  and  night ;  but  that  time,  of  which 
my  text  speaks,  was  a  time  when  there  were  no  clouds,  no  rain- 
bows, no  night,  and  when  the  light  of  truth  reigned  supreme !    The 
old    Norse    mythology    taught    (I    know    not    whence    it    got    so 
great  a  truth),  "that  after  death  there  comes  a  new  day,  and  a 
sun  without  a  shadozv."     Now  the  distinct  attributes  of  God  as 
they  are  separated  in  this  world  seem  to  us  to  have  shadows,  but 
certainly  there  will  be  no  shadow  in  heaven,  where  the  "Lamb  is 
the  light  thereof."     The  Lamb  does  not  bring  the  light,  but  he  is 
the  light,  and  as  he  is  everywhere,  there  can  be  no  shadows,  and 
therefore,  everywhere  in  heaven, 

"The  noontide  of  glory  eternally  reigns." — Dr.  Holme. 
No  one's  expectation  of  the  joys  that  God  has  in  store  for  us 
have  ever  yet  exceeded  or  equalled  the  reality  of  those  joys.  No 
one  was  ever  disappointed  in  God's  fulfillment  of  a  promised 
blessing.  The  fulfillment  is  always  better  than  our  best  hopes. 
And  so  it  will  be  with  death,  which  we  dread  even  while  we  look 
forward  to  what  it  leads  to.  Dr.  Charles  F.  Aked  has  well 
expressed  the  way  in  which  we  may  confidently  face  death  when 
he  says,  "The  one  surprise  in  death,  for  me,  would  be  to  find 
that  death  does  not  usher  in  the  grandest,  most  glorious  surprise 
of  all."  If  God  always  does  better  than  we  hope  for  on  earth, 
what  will  he  not  do  for  us  when  we  are  released  from  the  limfta- 
tions  of  earth? — Selected. 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  OTHER  WORLD  387 

Cultivating  holy  fellowships  and  renewing  and  developing  human 
loves  is  one  of  the  occupations  of  the  heaven-life.  We  have 
Christ's  word  for  this.  He  says,  "Many  shall  come  from  the  east 
and  the  west,  the  north  and  the  south,  and  shall  sit  down  with 
Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  By 
the  very  constitution  of  our  nature,  we  require  company.  We 
have  been  made  to  enjoy  nothitig  alone.  We  are  contagious 
creatures,  and  catch  inspiration  from  one  another.  On  this 
account  we  are  essential  to  one  another.  Hence  there  could  be 
heaven  for  us  if  we  were  isolated  from  our  kind. — Selected. 

How  often  we  have  heard  it  said,  and  how  often  we  have  read 
that  the  sweetest  and  most  precious  words  in  the  English  language 
are  heaven,  mother,  home !  What  blessed  memories  are  awakened 
by  the  last  two,  and  what  glorious  expectations  are  inspired  by 
the  first!  Home,  for  those  who  know  what  a  real  home  is,  means 
kindred,  loved  ones,  peace,  fellowship,  rest,  joy,  and  untold  and 
multiplied  blessings  of  inestimable  value.  Happy  the  child  that 
has  such  a  home.  Happy  the  man  or  woman  that  can  read  from 
memory's  pages  the  record  of  such  a  home. 

In  looking  out  beyond  the  confines  of  this  mortal  life,  it  is  a 
real  joy  to  feel  that  there  remains  for  all  God's  people  a  resting 
place,  a  heaven,  a  home  that  is  eternal.  In  this  world  the  ideal 
home  is  not  confined  to  palaces  nor  the  mansions  of  the  rich. 
Many  of  these  abodes  shelter  more  of  misery  and  wretchedness 
than  can  be  found  in  the  hovels  of  the  poorest  people  of  any  land'. 
While  there  may  be  exceptions,  it  is  still  true  that  contentment 
with  godliness  will  be  found  in  many  homes,  where  there  is  the 
scantiest  supply  of  worldly  goods. 

But  earthly  homes,  however  happy  they  may  be,  are  only 
temporary.  Fathers  and  mothers  die,  and  the  children  are  scat- 
tered far  and  wide.  If  by  chance  one  of  them  should  return  to 
re-visit  the  home  of  childhood,  no  mother's  face  is  seen  looking 
out  of  the  window  to  gladden  the  heart  of  the  returning  wanderer ; 
no  father's  hand  clasp  assures  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  old  hearth- 
stone; no  brother  or  sister  remains  with  whom  sweet  converse 
may  be  had  concerning  the  vanished  scenes  and  experiences  of 
other  days.  Strangers  have  taken  possession  of  the  old  home. 
There  is  nothing  but  the  recollection  of  what  once  was  home,  and 
with  a  sad  heart  the   visitor  turns  away,   but  not   until   he   has 


388  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

picked  a  bud  from  the  white  rose  bush  that  his  mother  planted 
long,  long  years  before,  and  which  to  his  mind  is  as  sacred  as  the 
bush  that  was  ablaze  with  fire  and  yet  not  burned. 

But  the  heaven  of  our  faith  and  hope  is  far  different,  though 
alike  in  some  respects,  from  all  our  earthly  homes.  Even  the  best 
of  these  give  but  faint  and  few  suggestions  of  the  home  that  the 
blessed  Christ  is  preparing  for  those  who  love  him.  And  why 
should  it  not  be  so,  for —  » 

"In  the  Christian's  home  in  glory 

There  remains  a  land  of  rest; 
Where  my  Savior's  gone  before  me, 
To  fulfill  my  soul's  request. 

"He  is  fitting  up  my  mansion 

Which  eternally  shall  stand. 
For  my  stay  shall  not  be  transient 

In  that  holy,  happy  land." 

— Words  of  Cheer  and  Comfort. 

We  do  not  know  where  heaven  is.  But  God  knows,  and  it  is 
a  reserved  place  for  a  kept  people.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has 
gone  to  prepare  it  for  those  who  love  him.  He  is  waiting  there 
to  receive  his  people  unto  himself  as  they  are  called  away  from 
earth.  His  loved  ones  are  to  be  with  him.  His  prayer  was,  that 
those  who  had  been  given  him  might  be  with  him.  He  prayed 
that  they  might  die,  in  good  time.  It  is  not  a  fearful  thing,  then, 
to  die.  It  is  only  a  going  home,  in  accordance  with  the  Savior's 
dying  wish  and  prayer.  There  is  to  be  no  going  out  into  the 
darkness.  It  will  be  a  home-going  into  the  warmth  and  light  of 
the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

Heaven  is  a  great  place,  a  large  place,  with  room  for  many,  a 
house  of  many  mansions.  There  will  be  room  in  it  for  all  who 
love  God.  There  will  be  ample  space  for  all  their  varied  occupa- 
tions. They  will  be  active  and  busy  in  his  service.  Heaven  will 
not  be  a  place  for  idleness,  nor  mere  ease-taking.  His  servants 
shall  serve  him,  and  there  will  be  many  forms  of  service.  There 
will  be  nothing  that  can  hurt  nor  defile.  There  will  be  no  form 
of  labor  in  which  there  shall  not  be  usefulness  and  delight.  There 
will  be  nothing  done  that  can  work  evil  or  pain  to  any  creature. 
There  will  be  no  pain,  or  anything  that  can  produce  sorrow.   There 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  OTHER  WORLD  389 

will  be  no  war,  or  the  use  of  anything  by  means  of  which  war  is 
waged.  Heaven  will  be  a  place  of  glory  and  gladness.  Those 
who  are  there  will  live  continually  to  the  glory  of  God. — Selected. 

Many  a  heart  full  of  affection  gets  no  opportunity  on  earth  of 
lavishing  its  full  wealth  and  reaping  the  usury  of  mutual  love. 
Behind  our  calm  faces,  there  is  often  raging  from  day  to  day,  a 
storm  of  unsatisfied  longing,  and  the  heart  is  bleeding  in  secret 
when  the  eyes  are  dry.  We  all  begin  life  with  boundless  desires, 
confident  that  the  world  is  full  enough  and  life  long  enough  to 
fulfill  them  all.  But  before  life  is  half  done,  we  have  to  dig  the 
grave  of  many  an  impossible  ambition  and  many  a  hopeless  hope. 
The  good  and  the  beautiful  are  torn  from  us  by  the  cruel  hand 
of  death,  and  we  have  to  put  up  with  those  between  whom  and 
us  there  can  be  little  sympathy  and  no  understanding.  The  pure 
and  pious  have  to  dwell  in  the  same  home  with  souls  that  are 
godless  and  lips  that  blaspheme,  and  the  gentle  heart,  sighing  for 
peace,  has  to  sojourn  in  the  tents  of  the  children  of  strife.  Even 
the  followers  of  Christ  are  often  at  war  among  themselves ;  one 
church  persecuting  another  and  parties  anathematizing  each  other 
within  the  same  church.  Who  does  not  sometimes  sigh,  "Oh, 
that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  foi  then  would  I  fly  away  and  be 
at  rest?" — Stalker. 

A  paradisaic  mirage  petrifies  into  a  continent  abiding  between 
the  floods,  anchored  and  wedged  into  the  frame  of  the  world. 
The  New  Jerusalem  which  hangs  in  the  firmament  of  an  exile's 
island  apocalypse,  too  golden  and  glorious  to  be  more  than  a  cloud 
pageant  afloat  in  gulfs  of  unsubstantial  sky,  descends  slowly  out 
of  heaven  from  God,  settles  down  upon  the  solid  earth,  and  estab- 
lishes Jtself. — Kelley. 

What  a  pity  that  they  should  thus  miss,  through  lack  of  faith, 
one  of  their  chief  joys,  the  deliverance  assured  to  them  in  Jesus ! 
It  is  our  privilege,  as  Browning  says,  to  "greet  the  unseen  with 
a  cheer,"  to  feel  that  it  well  accords  with  "the  noonday,  the  bustle 
of  man's  worktime"  to  think  of,  and  prepare  for,  and  pass  to  the 
higher  work  which  waits  us  there. — The  Riches  of  His  Grace. 

We  can  ever  know  more,  but  never  know  all.  Through  time 
and  eternity,  we  can  forever  grow,  feeling  the  sublime  exhilaration 


390  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

of  expanded  being,  forever  approximating  infinite  perfection,  and 
yet  never  being  fully  able  to  compass  it.  The  infinite  must  for- 
ever be  beyond  the  finite.  And  so  for  each  redeemed  soul  through 
all  coming  ages  there  always  waits  a  brighter  tomorrow  and  the 
roseate  dawn  of  a  grander  future. — Geo.  B,  Vosburg,  D.  D. 

The  Christian  fears  not  death,  for  he  knows  it  will  be  his  hap- 
piest day,  and  his  bridge  from  woe  to  glory.  Though  it  be  the 
wicked  man's  shipwreck,  it  is  the  good  man's  putting  into  harbor, 
where,  striking  sails  and  casting  anchor,  he  returns  his  lading 
with  advantage  to  the  owner,  that  is,  his  soul  to  God,  leaving  the 
hulk  still  moored  in  the  haven,  to  be  new  built  again,  and  fitted 
for  an  eternal  voyage. — Feltham. 

The  Bible  is  our  only  source  of  information  concerning  the 
future  life.  Almost  everyone  has,  at  some  time  in  life,  earnestly 
wished  to  know  more  about  heaven  than  the  Bible  has  revealed. 
But  we  are  not  sure  that  a  fuller  and  clearer  revelation  would 
serve  any  good  purpose.  Perhaps  it  would  render  men  discon- 
tented with  their  present  lot  and  unfit  for  present  duty.  Perhaps 
there  is  no  power  in  human  language  to  convey  to  men's  minds 
a  fuller  and  clearer  idea  of  the  heavenly  world.  It  may  be  that 
in  our  present  state  we  do  not  possess  the  capacity  to  comprehend 
these  things  even  if  they  could  be  uttered  in  human  speech. 
Whatever  be  the  reason  for  the  comparative  obscurity  in  which 
this  interesting  subject  has  been  left,  it  is  enough  for  us  to  know 
that  there  is  a  holy  city,  where  the  saints  of  God  are  being  gath- 
ered home  to  be  forever  with  the  Lord.  We  are  invited  to  enter 
through  the  gates  into  that  city,  and  the  few  faint  glimpses  of  that 
heavenly  place  are  enough  to  win  our  hearts  to  a  holy  life,  and 
to  cheer  us  on  ©ur  journey  through  this  vale  of  tears. — Evangelical 
Messenger, 

Life  changes  all  our  thoughts  of  heaven; 
At  first  we  think  of  streets  of  gold, 
Of  gates  of  pearl  and  dazzling  light, 
Of  shining  wings  and  robes  of  white, 
And  things  all   strange  to  mortal   sight. 
But  in  the  afterward  of  years 


THE   CALL   OF  THE   OTHER  WORLD  391 

It  is  a  more  familiar  place, 
A  home  unhurt  by  sigh  or  tears, 

Where  waiteth  many  a  well-known  face. 
With  passing  months  it  comes  more  near, 

It  grows  more  real  day  by  day. 
Not  strange  or  cold,  but  very  dear — 

The  glad  homeland,  not  far  away. 
Where  none  are  sick,  or  poor,  or  lone, 
The  place  where  we  shall  find  our  own. 
And  as  we  think  of  all  we  knew 

Who  there  have  met  to  part  no  more, 
Our  longing  hearts  desire  home,  too, 

With  all  the  strife  and  longing  o'er, — Unidentified. 

Why  do  they  come,  these  little  ones  that  enter  our  homes  by  the 
gateway  of  suffering,  and  that  linger  with  us  a  few  months,  utter- 
ing no  words,  smiling  in  a  mysterious  silence,  yet  speaking 
eloquently  all  the  time  of  the  purity  and  sweetness  of  heaven? 
Why  must  they  open  the  tenderest  fountains  of  our  nature  only 
to  leave  them  so  soon,  choked  with  the  bitter  tears  of  loss?  It 
fs  impossible  wholly  to  answer  such  questions  of  the  tortured  heart ; 
but  one  can  say,  in  general,  that  these  little  temporary  wanderers 
from  a  celestial  home,  come  and  go  because  of  the  great  love  of 
God.  It  is  an  inestimable  blessing  to  have  been  the  father  of  a 
child  that  has  the  stamp  of  heaven  upon  its  brow,  to  hold  it  in 
one's  arms,  to  minister  to  it,  to  gaze  fondly  down  into  the  little 
upturned  face,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  unsullied  beauty  of  its  smiles, 
and  then  give  it  back  to  God  at  his  call,  with  the  thought  that  in 
heaven,  as  upon  earth,  it  is  still  our  own  child,  a  member  of  the 
household,  still  to  be  counted  always  as  one  of  the  children  whom 
God  hath  given  us.  Such  a  love  chastens  and  sanctifies  the  hearts 
of  the  father  and  mother,  carries  them  out  beyond  time  and  sense, 
and  gives  them  a  hold  upon  the  unseen.  As  thiVigs  of  great 
value  always  cost,  it  is  worth  all  the  sorrow  to  have  known  this 
holy  affection,  and  to  have  this  treasure  in  heaven. — Advance. 

We  have  not  learned  the  first  lesson  of  Christ's  holy  religion, 
the  meaning  of  the  cross  has  not  begun  to  dawn  upon  us,  if  we 
have  not  learned  to  see  in  it  how  God  feels  toward  sin — that  sin 


392  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ife  a  thing  so  horrible  and  accyrsed  that  only  in  all  the  awful  scene 
of  Calvary  can  we  see  it  rightly.  He  must  nail  it  to  the  cross,  and 
thrust  it  through  with  a  spear  and  bury  it  out  of  his  sight.  It 
means  that  sin  has  so  defiled  and  cursed  us  that  God  can  find  no 
remedy  for  us  except  in  our  being  crucified  with  Christ,  dead  with 
Christ,  buried  with  Christ ;  that  the  new  man,  the  Christ,  be 
formed  fn  us,  and  that  we  live  now  only  in  the  power  of  his  resur- 
rection. The  word  that  runs  through  the  Bible  is  not  first  of  all 
happiness.  The  whole  idea  of  the  Bible — every  command,  every 
promise,  every  example,  all  the  revelation  of  God,  of  heaven,  of 
hell,  all  the  life  and  sorrows  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  every 
breath  and  influence,  of  it — teaches  me  that  I  want  something  very 
different  from  feeling  comfortable. — Mark  Guy  Pearse. 

There  is  light  without  dimness  or  shadow.  It  is  perpetual. 
We  are  not  accustomed  to  such  glory ;  and  it  should  not  be 
deemed  strange  if  the  unremitted  service  of  the  saints  should 
be  described  according  to  our  usual  language.  "Day  and 
night"  means  perpetually.  The  saints  in  heaven  never  grow 
weary.  They  never  sufifer  from  physical  weakness ;  nor  does  their 
long-continued  service  become  distasteful.  As  the  mathematician 
never  finds  aught  but  pleasure  in  his  calculations,  nor  the  phil- 
osopher in  his  inquiries,  nor  the  merchant  in  his  gains,  nor  the 
Christian  in  his  contemplations,  so  neither  does  the  saint  in  heaven 
in  his  varied,  but  glorious  employments.  But  while  others  tire, 
the  saint  is  always  vigorous.  The  conversation,  the  thoughts,  the 
songs  of  praise,  which  employ  him,  are  never  too  long.  Endless 
duration  itself  w!ll  not  be  sufficient  to  exhaust  the  energy,  or 
diminish  the  interest  of  the  glorified  in  the  delightful  service  which 
they  shall  render  perpetually  to  the  everlasting  God. — Sermons. 

The  bodies  of  the  saints  at  the  resurrection  will  be  like  the 
glorified  body  of  Christ,  and  they  will  be  totally  free  from  the 
weaknesses  and  vices  which  mar  our  bodily  constitution  here. 
Ours  is  at  present,  as  it  is  well  called  in  Scripture,  a  body  of 
humiliation.  What  ugliness  and  blemishes,  what  aches  and  tor- 
tures, what  a  thousandfold  variety  of  disease  it  is  subject  to.  I 
suppose  there  is  scarcely  a  man  in  whose  constitution  there  is  not 
some  weak  spot ;  and  multitudes  live  in  a  moving  prison,  which 
is  a  loathino-  both  to  themselves  and  others.      But  in  heaven  the 


THE   CALL   OF   THE   OTHER   WORLD  393 

body,  as  well  as  the  soul,  will  be  without  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any 
such  thing.  Can  you  remember  any  day  in  your  life  when  you 
were  absolutely  healthy — say  a  spring  morning,  when  you  awoke 
with  the  sweet  pulse  of  the  awakening  year  in  your  blood,  with 
strength  going  up  every  sinew,  and  when  the  steady  hand  executed 
with  perfect  freedom  the  suggestions  of  the  clear  brain?  That  is 
perhaps  the  best  hint  you  can  obtain  of  what  the  bodily  state  in 
heaven  will  be. — Stalker. 

Now  are  we  in  training  for  work  in  the  eternal  world.  God 
has  purpose  in  entrusting  us  with  heavenly  powers,  and  the  godly 
must  be  completely  furnished  unto  every  good  work.  (2  Tim.  3:17.) 
Such  work  must  surely  be  an  exhilaration,  and  every  opportunity 
to  do  be  an  inspiration,  and  with  immortal  powers  unflagging. 
Jesus  has  gone  to  prepare  a  place  for  us,  and  we  are  now  prepar- 
ing for  our  respective  places  at  the  right  and  left  hand  of  God 
in  honor  and  power,  or  in  some  inferior  class,  according  as  our 
several  abilities  shall  be. 

This  work  will  be  such  as  will  glorify  God  in  the  exercise  of 
his  grace,  filling  us  with  wisdom  and  might,  and  love  and  joy, 
that  we  may  carry  blessings  to  others.  Truly,  such  as  we  who 
have  known  God  in  the  redemption  of  our  souls,  through  Christ 
Jesus,  are  above  all  other  creatures,  for  by  this  redemption  we 
are  differentiated  from  all  others,  and  so  qualified  in  fullest  measure 
for  such  work ;  and  being  thus  qualified,  we  shall  not  rest  in  sloth 
and  idleness  throughout  eternity. 

We  may  be  certain  that  if  we  have  not  gained  the  faculty,  and 
love  to  work  for  others  here  now,  we  shall  be  the  same  hereafter. 
If  we  fail  to  find  work  to  do  here,  we  would  fail  there.  It  is 
inconceivable  that  there  should  be  drones  in  heaven,  where  the 
Father  works,  and  Jesus  works,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  works.  As 
there  is  no  place  in  heaven  for  non-workers,  therefore,  there 
should  be  (and  is  there  not?)  no  place  in  the  church  (the  kingdom 
of  God)  on  earth  for  such,  nor  for  any  who  do  not  work  in  love, 
but  for  their  own  selfish  glory  and  gain. 

There  is  sweet  rest  in  heaven  from  every  fear  and  torment,  with 
tireless  and  free  exercise  of  boundless  desire  and  use  of  every 
occasion  to  do  the  will  of  God,  our  Father,  having  the  mind  of 
Christ  in  us. — Christian  Work  and  Evangelist. 


394  THE  PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

Oh  for  more  of  the  tent  Hfe  amongst  God's  people!  But  it  is 
only  possible,  when  they  cafth  sight,  and  keep  sight,  of  "the  city 
which  hath  foundations."  When  that  city  is  a  city  of  tradition 
or  dream,  men  will  begin  to  dig  the  foundations  of  permanent 
homes  and  ample  fortunes.  But  when  it  is  realized  as  the  object 
of  passionate  persuasion,  described  by  faith  rising  above  the  mists 
and  plains  of  time,  and  embraced  by  outstretched  eager  arms, 
they  dwell  in  tents,  and  confess  themselves  strangers  and  pilgrims. 

It  is  said  that  when,  in  a  strange  land,  the  Swiss  soldier  hears 
the  rude  melody  which  gathers  the  cows  back  from  the  pastures, 
he  is  so  filled  with  longings  for  home  that  he  will  cast  down  his 
sword,  tear  off  his  foreign  livery,  renounce  his  claims  for  wage, 
in  order  to  hurry  back  to  his  mountain  home.  Would  that  such 
an  effect  might  be  experienced,  after  a  spiritual  sort,  by  many 
readers  of  these  lines;  who,  as  we  speak  of  the  inheritance,  shall 
also  array  their  spirits  in  the  pilgrim  garb,  and  start,  not  as  they 
did  in  the  middle  ages  for  the  holy  sepulcher,  or  in  quest  of  the 
holy  grail,  but  for  the  New  Jerusalem,  on  which  the  hand  of 
invasion  has  never  fallen,  nor  sin  left  its  blight ! — F.  B.  Meyer. 

For  the  trusting  child  of  God  to  live  or  die  would  be  alike.  If 
he  lived,  he  would  live  unto  the  Lord;  if  he  died,  he  would  die  to 
the  Lord.  The  bed  of  down,  surrounded  by  friends,  or  the  mar- 
tyr's stake,  girt  round  with  curses — what  matter  which?  Stephen, 
dragged,  hurried,  driven,  felt  the  glory  of  God  streaming  on  his 
face;  when  the  shades  of  faintness  were  gathering  round  his  eyes, 
and  the  world  was  fading  away  into  indistinctness,  "the  things 
prepared"  were  given  him.  His  spirit  saw  what  "eye  had  not 
seen."  The  later  martyr  bathes  his  fingers  in  the  flames,  and 
while  the  flesh  shrivels  and  the  bones  are  cindered,  says,  in 
unfeigned  sincerity,  that  he  is  lying  on  a  bed  of  roses.  It  would 
matter  little  what  he  was — the  ruler  of  a  kingdom  or  a  tailor  grimed 
with  the  smoke  and  dust  of  a  workshop.  To  a  soul  filled  with 
God,  the  difference  between  these  two  is  inappreciable, — as  if, 
from  a  distant  star,  you  were  to  look  down  upon  a  palace  and  a 
hovel,  both  dwindled  into  distance,  and  were  to  smile  at  the  thought 
of  calling  one  large  and  the  other  small. 

No  matter  to  such  a  man  what  he  saw  or  what  he  heard ;  for 
every  sight  would  be  resplendent  with  beauty,,  and  every  sound 


THE   CALL   OF  THE   OTHER  WORLD  395 

would  echo  harmony;  things  common  would  become  transfigured, 
as  when  the  ecstatic  state  of  the  inward  soul  reflected  a  radiant 
cloud  from  the  frame  of  Christ.  The  human  would  become  divine 
— life,  even  the  meanest,  noble.  In  the  hue  of  every  violet,  there 
would  be  a  glimpse  of  divine  affection,  and  a  dream  of  heaven. 
The  forest  would  blaze  with  Deity,  as  it  did  to  the  eye  of  Moses. 
The  creations  of  genius  would  breathe  less  of  earth  and  more  of 
heaven. — F.  W.  Robertson. 

If  you  are  treading  the  upward  way,  you  listen  to  the  voices 
that  float  around  it,  till  they  grow  familiar  to  your  ear  as  your 
mother's  voice,  and  sweet  like  that  of  your  native  river;  till  the 
habit  of  attention  grows  into  your  soul,  and  their  ever-regarded 
sound  always  warms  and  cheers  and  swells  your  heart.  Oh,  what 
a  happy  meeting  that  will  be,  when  your  sun  is  set  and  your  jour- 
ney finished ;  when  the  voices  that  called  you  coming  shall  welcome 
you  home;  when  the  voices  which  came  sweetly  from  afar,  and 
sounded  pleasant  even  amid  the  world's  din,  shall  be  sweeter  yet 
close  at  hand,  as  they  stir  the  leaves  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  melt 
away  upon  that  tranquil  sea;  when  many  holy  ones  and  dear 
ones  shall  crowd  around  you,  and  greet  you,  now  grown  pure  and 
holy  as  themselves,  in  accents  so  familiar  and  friendly  that  you 
will  feel  you  are  now  at  last  at  home.  And  then,  more  conscious 
of  the  soul's  great  worth,  and  more  bent  upon  the  bliss  of  others, 
you  will  add  your  own  to  that  great  voice  which  from  heaven  calls 
to  all  on  earth,  and  says,  "Come  up  hither!" — Boyd. 

Says  Dr.  Matheson  pithily :  "We  think  of  heaven  as  needing 
the  photographs  of  earth  to  make  earthly  memory !  The  mount 
of  God  does  not  need  to  be  made  after  the  pattern  of  the  human ; 
the  human  has  already  been  patterned  after  the  mount  of  God." 
Heaven  may  be  our  portion  beforehand,  if  our  love  is  there ;  if 
our  thoughts  are  there ;  if  our  conversation,  meaning  by  the 
word,  the  whole  conduct  of  our  affairs,  is  already  there.  What 
folly  to  weigh  trifles  of  wealth  or  poverty  in  the  scale,  as  affect- 
ing our  joy.  Our  convenience,  our  comfort,  may  depend  on  these, 
but  not  that  deeper,  more  enduring  thing,  our  humor  and  mood, 
our  joy.  For  is  not  that  Christ's  joy?  'Who  for  the  joy  that 
was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame !' " 


356  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN  EVANGELIST 

It  is  seldom  the  Master's  will  that  we  carry  no  cross.  Hidden 
from  the  sight  of  those  around  us,  our  cross  may  be  revealed  only 
to  the  eyes  of  our  Savior.  The  hidden  cross  is  often  the 
heaviest.  But  we,  too,  sharing  his  cross,  may  endure  it,  whether 
or  not  the  world  know  our  secret,  as  seeing  him  who  is  to  them 
invisible,  and  a  tide  of  joy,  present  as  well  as  prospective,  may 
cover  the  waste  places  of  our  lives. — Ths  Joyful  Life, 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

He   Had   the   True   Hope. 

Some  Hindus  were  on  a  journey  in  India.  The  road  was 
rougfh  and  long,  and  the  sun  burned  hotly  in  the  skies.  Slowly 
they  passed  on  the  way,  and  as  one  day  after  another  came  to  an 
end,  many  of  the  party  grew  faint  and  weary.  There  was  one 
poor  man  who  seemed  a  stranger  to  the  rest;  he  was  old  and 
feeble  and  ready  to  sink  from  the  heat  and  labor  of  the  way.  At 
last  he  fell  and  could  not  rise  again.  The  Hindoos  looked  upon 
him,  and  finding  that  he  was  likely  to  die,  they  left  him  to  perish 
without  pity  or  help,  for  these  heathen  are  unkind  to  the  sick  and 
dying.  But  there  was  among  those  travelers  a  missionary,  on  his 
way  to  a  distant  place  to  preach  the  gospel ;  he  saw  the  old  man 
fall  and  ran  to  aid  him,  while  the  rest  passed  along.  Yet  all  his 
help  could  not  now  save  his  life.  He  knelt  by  the  poor  man's  side 
and  softly  said  in  his  ear,  "Brother,  what  is  your  hope?"  The 
dying  traveler  raised  himself  to  reply,  and,  with  a  great  effort 
said,  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  and 
then  laid  down  his  head  again  and  died.  The  missionary  was 
greatly  astonished  at  the  answer;  and,  from  the  calm  and  thought- 
ful manner  in  which  the  words  were  spoken,  he  could  not  but  feel 
that  the  man  had  died  safely  in  Christ.  "How  or  where,"  thought 
he,  "could  this  Hindu  have  got  his  hope?"  And,  as  he  looked 
at  the  dead  body,  he  saw  a  piece  of  paper  grasped  tightly  in  one 
of  the  hands.  He  carefully  took  it  out,  and  what  was  his  surprise 
and  delight  when  he  saw  it  was  a  single  leaf  of  the  Bible,  on  which 
was  the  first  chapter  of  the  first  Epistle  of  John,  where  these  words 
are  found.  On  that  page  a  heathen  man  had  met  with  the  gospel. 
The  Inheritance  of  the  Saints. 

Many  years  ago,  when  the  elder  Forbes  Winslow  was  living — 
the  most  eminent  pathologist  in  diseases  of  the  mind  that  England 
ever  produced — there  came  over  from  France  a  young  Frenchman 
to  consult  him.  He  brought  letters  of  recommendation  from 
many  eminent  men  in  France,  among  them  one  from  Napoleon 
HI,  at  that  time  Emperor  of  France.  Dr.  Forbes  Winslow  read 
the  letters,  and  then  turned  to  the  young  Frenchman,  and  said: 


398  THE   PASTOR   HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

"What  is  your  trouble?"   >  * 

He  said  :     "I  don't  know." 

"Have  you  lost  money?" 

"No,  not  recently." 

"Have  you  suffered  in  honor  or  reputation?" 

"No,  not  so  far  as  I  know." 

"Have  you  lost  friends?" 

"No,  not  recently." 

"Then  what  is  it  keeps  you  awake?" 

He  said:     "Doctor  Winslow,  I'd  rather  not  tell." 

Dr.  Winslow  said:      "If  you  don't  tell,  I  can't  help  you." 

"Well,"  said  the  young-  Frenchman,  "my  trouble  is  this:  I  am 
an  infidel,  and  my  father  was  an  infidel  before  me.  But  strangely 
enough,  every  night,  when  I  lie  down  to  sleep,  this  question  rises 
before  me:  'Eternity,  where  shall  I  spend  it?'  During  the 
night  I  can  think  of  but  that  one  thing,  and  I  can't  sleep;  or  if 
I  succeed  in  falling  into  troubled  slumber,  it  is  more  awful  than 
my  waking  hours,  and  I  start  from  some  horrid  dream  all 
a-tremble.  That  question  haunts  me  all  night — 'Eternity,  where 
shall  I  spend  it?'" 

Dr.  Forbes  Winslow  said,  "I  can't  help  you,  but  I  can  tell  you  a 
physician  who  can."  He  took  his  Bible  from  a  table,  and  turning 
to  Isaiah  53  :5,  he  read,  "He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace 
was  upon  him ;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed."  There  was 
a  curl  of  scorn  upon  the  Frenchman's  lip.      He  said: 

"Dr.  Winslow,  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  a  man  in  your 
eminent  scientific  position  believes  that  effete  superstition  of 
Christianity  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Dr.  Forbes  Winslow,  "I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  I  believe  in  the  Bible ;  and  believing  in  Christ  and  the  Bible 
has  saved  me  from  becoming  what  you  are." 

The  man  dropped  his  head  for  a  moment.  Then  he  said,  "If 
I  am  an  honest  man  I  ought  at  least  to  be  willing  to  consider  it, 
ought  I  not?      Will  you  teach  me?" 

Dr.  Winslow  consented,  and  the  physician  of  the  mind  became 
the  physician  of  the  soul.  From  the  Bible  he  showed  the  young 
man  the  way  out  of  darkness  into  light.  In  three  or  four  days 
his  doubts  were  all  gone,  and  he  went  back  to  France  with  his 


THE   CALL   OF  THE   OTHER  WORLD  399 

mind  at  rest,  for  he  had  settled  the  question  of  "Eternity,  where 
shall  I  spend  it?"     He  would  spend  it  with  Christ  in  glory. 

"Eternity,  where  shall  I  spend  it?" 

Thank  God,  I  know  where  I  shall  spend  eternity.  Do  you? — 
R.  A.  Torrey. 

When  a  Man  is  About  to  Die. 

It  is  now  the  fashion  not  to  tell  a  man  when  he  i's  about  to  die. 
That  is  a  question  that  belongs  to  the  physician,  and  it  may  be 
that  at  times  he  is  right  about  it.  But  I  am  sure  there  are  times 
when  that  method  is  wrong. 

A  few  months  ago,  in  an  eastern  city,  a  good  man  was  dying. 
The  physicians  spoke  of  a  hypodermic  to  relieve  the  pain  of  the 
last  hours  and  to  let  the  patient  depart  peacefully  and  without 
knowing  his  condition.  The  sick  man's  brother  favored  this  plan ; 
his  business  partner,  and  fellow  member  of  the  church  said, 
"No,  he  is  a  brave  man;  tell  him  the  truth;"  the  wife,  in  tears, 
could  not  decide.  They  sent  for  the  minister  and  submitted  the 
case  to  him.     He  said,     "Tell  him  the  truth." 

They  told  him,  and  he  said,  "Gentlemen,  I  am  not  afraid  to 
die,  and  have  not  been  afraid  of  death  for  many  years;  but  I  do 
not  think  it  would  have  been  quite  fair  not  to  let  me  know.  I 
thank  you  for  telling  me.  About  how  long  will  it  be?"  They 
told  him  an  hour,  or  possibly  two  hours.  The  first  half  hour  he 
spent  alone  with  his  wife.  After  that  he  called  in  the  friends 
who  were  there,  and  a  few  others  whom  he  asked  to  have  called' 
by  telephone.  They  sang  a  hymn;  the  minister  offered  prayer; 
he  said  his  dying  words,  which  are  a  rich  heritage  to  his  widow. 
A  layman  who  was  there  told  me  that  the  scene  at  that  death  bed 
was  to  him  an  evidence,  such  as  he  had  never  known  before,  of 
the  power  of  the  gospel  to  make  men  brave  and  true.  He  could 
not  measure  the  loss  that  his  own  spiritual  life  would  have  suffered 
without  it. 

I  am  more  and  more  convinced  that,  however  important  it  may 
be  at  times  to  conceal  from  a  patient  some  details  of  his  condi- 
tions, in  the  long  run  there  is  nothing  so  good  for  any  man,  sick 
or  well,  as  the  truth. — The  Advance. 


400  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

His  Mother's  Sermon. 

He  was  broken  that  day,  and  his  sobs  shook  the  bed,  for  he 
was  his  mother's  only  son,  and  fatherless,  and  his  mother,  brave 
and  faithful  to  the  last,  was  bidding  him  farewell. 

"Dinna  greet  like  that,  John,  nor  break  yir  hert,  for  'tis  the 
will  o'  God,  and  that's  aye  best. 

"Here's  my  watch  and  chain,"  placing  them  beside  her  son,  who 
could  not  touch  them,  nor  would  lift  his  head,  "and  when  ye  feel 
the  chain  about  yir  neck,  it  will  mind  ye  o'  yir  mother's  arms. 

"Ye  '11  not  forget  me,  John,  I  ken  that  well,  and  I'll  never  for- 
get you.  I've  loved  ye  here  and  I'll  love  ye  yonder.  Th'ill  no 
be  an  'oor  when  I  no  pray  for  ye,  and  I  ken  better  what  to  ask 
than  I  did  here,  sae  dinna  be  comfortless." 

Then  she  felt  for  his  head  and  stroked  it  once  more,  but  he 
could  not  look  or  speak. 

"Ye  'ill  follow  Christ,  and  gin  he  offers  ye  his  cross  ye'U  no 
refuse  it,  for  he  aye  carries  the  heavy  end  himself.  He's  guided 
yir  mother  a'  thae  years,  and  been  as  gude  as  a  husband  since 
yir  father's  death,  and  he  'ill  hold  me  fast  tae  the  end.  He  'ill 
keep  ye,  too,  John,  I'll  be  watchin'  for  ye.  Ye  'ill  no  fail  me," 
and  her  poor  cold  hand,  that  had  tended  him  all  his  days,  tightened 
on  his  head. 

But  he  could  not  speak,  and  her  voice  was  failing  fast. 

"I  canna  see  ye  noo,  John,  but  I  know  yir  there,  and  I've  just 
one  other  wish.     If  God  calls  ye  to  the  ministry,  ye  'ill  no  refuse." 

A  minute  after  she  whispered,  "Pray  for  me,"  and  he  cried, 
"My  mother,  my  mother !" 

It  was  a  full  prayer,  and  nothing  left  unasked. — Ian  Maclaren. 
"Eye  Hath  Not  Seen." 

A  little  heathen  girl,  walking  out  under  the  skies  one  night  with 
her  missionary  teacher,  who  had  taught  her  of  heaven  and  heavenly 
things,  exclaimed  as  she  looked  up  into  the  stars,  "O  teacher,  if 
the  outside  of  heaven  is  so  fair,  what  must  it  be  to  be  there !"  So 
can  we  say:  If  the  suggestions  we  get,  the  hints  and  the  intima- 
tions we  get  concerning  heaven  are  so  enticing,  what  must  it  be 
to  be  there! 

Life  a  Pilgrimage. 

A  dervish  was  once  traveling  in  Tartary,  and  arriving  at  the 
town  of  Balkh,  mistook  the  king's  palace  for  an  inn,  and,  entering 


THE   CALL   OF   THE   OTHER   WORLD  401. 

one  of  the  galleries,  spread  his  carpet  and  took  up  his  quarters. 

Presently  some  of  the  guards  found  him,  and  were  roughly 
dismissing  him,  when  the  king  himself  passed  by,  and  was  amused 
at  the  cause  of  the  confusion.  The  dervish,  however,  remained 
unconcerned,  and  sought  leave  from  the  king  to  ask  some  ques- 
tions. 

"Who  were  the  persons  that  lodged  in  this  house  when  it  was 
first  built?"  said  the  intruder. 

"My  ancestors,"  replied  the  king. 

"And  who  lived  here  before  you?"  pursued  his  interrogator. 

"My  father." 

"And  who  lives  here  now?" 

"I  myself." 

"And  who  will  be  here  after  you?" 

"My  son." 

"Ha,"  exclaimed  the  wise  man,  "I  am  right  after  all ;  a  house 
which   changes    its   tenants    so   often,    and   accommodates   such   a 
succession  of  guests,  is  not  a  palace,  but  an  inn." 
The  Clearer  Outlook. 

An  Englishman,  at  sixty  years  of  age,  writes  in  an  Interesting 
way  to  the  London  Spectator  concerning  the  closing  years  of  life. 
He  says,  "As  one  grows  older,  the  outlook  becomes  clearer  and 
calmer.  I  have  been  a  doubter,  but,  like  my  forefathers,  I  can 
now  find  consolation  in  the  services  of  the  church.  It  is  astonish- 
ing how  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  seem  to  adapt  themselves  to 
your  added  years.  One's  pleasures  are  quieter,  but  quite  as 
enjoyable.  To  live  in  the  lives  of  your  children,  to  watch  their 
progress,  the  development  of  their  minds,  is  one  great  source  of 
pleasure."  There  is  a  verse  in  one  of  Baxter's  hymns,  which 
expresses  very  aptly  the  attitude  of  mind  of  this  man  and  of  many 
other  sincere  Christian  people: 

"If  life  be  long,  oh,  make  me  glad 

The  longer  to  obey; 
If  short,  no  laborer  is  sad 
To  end  the  toilsome  day." 
Our   Inheritance. 

A  dying  judge,  the  day  before  his  departure  to  be  with  Christ, 
said  to  his  pastor,  "Do  you  know  enough  about  law  to  understand 
what  is  meant  by  joint-tenancy?" 


402  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

"No,"  was  the  reply,  "I  know  nothing  about  law;  I  know  a 
little  about  grace,  and  that  satisfies  me." 

"Wf^l,"  he  said,  "if  you  and  I  were  joint  tenants  on  a  farm, 
I  could  not  say  to  you,  that  is  your  hill  of  corn  and  this  is  mine; 
that  is  your  blade  of  grass,  and  this  is  mine;  but  we  would  share 
and  share  alike  in  everything  on  the  place.  I  have  just  been 
lying  here,  and  thinking  with  unspeakable  joy,  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  nothing  apart  from  me,  and  everything  he  has  is  mine." — Sel. 
Looking  On  Ahead. 

A  young  man  living  in  New  York,  whose  eyes  had  been 
troubling  him,  consulted  an  oculist. 

"What  you  want  to  do,"  said  the  specialist,  "is  to  take  a  trip 
every  day  on  the  ferry,  or  in  New  Jersey,  Long  Island — any  place 
where  you  can  see  long  distances.  Look  up  and  down  the  river, 
across  the  fields,  or,  if  it  comes  to  the  worst,  go  to  the  top  of  a 
skyscraper,  and  scan  the  horizon  from  that  point.  The  idea  is  to 
get  distance.  You  use  your  eyes  a  great  deal  and  always  at  close 
range.  You  can't  use  them  any  other  way  in  town.  Even  when 
not  reading  and  writing,  the  vision  is  limited  by  small  rooms  and 
narrow  streets.  No  matter  in  what  direction  you  look,  the.'e  is 
a  blank  wall  not  far  away  to  shut  off  sight." 

Even  so  is  it  true  in  the  matter  of  our  spiritual  vision.  The 
reason  so  many  of  us  do  not  understand  the  things  of  God  better 
is  because  we  do  not  get  distance.  We  confine  truth ;  we  limit 
the  divine  to  what  we  know — to  what  is  immediately  about  us. 
Get  out  and  get  "distance." — The  Homiletic  Review. 
The  Other  World. 

In  Dr.  Rendel  Harris'  "Life  of  Frank  Crossley,"  the  modern 
St.  Francis,  there  are  several  instances  of  victory  over  death. 
Major  Crossley,  the  father,  when  he  was  dying,  exclaimed.  "Is 
this  death?  Why,  this  is  nothing!"  Fanny  Crossley,  the  aunt, 
in  her  illness  said,  "How  can  any  one  call  it  a  dark  valley?  It 
is  all  light  and  love!"  Then  stretching  out  her  arms  to  Christ, 
she  whispered,  "I  could  run  to  meet  him!"  Frank  Crossley, 
dying,  said  he  had  come  to  the  river,  and  there  was  no  river! 
—R.  F.  Norton,  D.  D. 

Fitting  Up  Mansions. 

"We  build  our  heaven  as  we  go  along,"  said  a  dear  old  lady 
one  day.      "I  once  had   friends  who  were  traveling  abroad   for 


THE  CALL   OF  THE  OTHER  WORLD  403 

several  years.  They  mtended  to  build  a  home  on  their  return, 
and  the  dream  of  the  home  that  was  to  be  went  with  them  in  all 
their  journeying  When  they  could  secure  a  beautiful  picture, 
statue,  or  vase,  they  purchased  it,  and  sent  it  home  to  await  their 
coming.  Rare  and  curious  treasures,  which  would  afterward  be 
linked  with  happy  memories,  they  forwarded  for  their  future 
enjoyment.  I  love  to  think  that  we  are  doing  the  same  for  our 
heavenly  home  in  these  pilgrimage  days  on  earth.  The  kindly 
deed  that  made  a  rare  picture  in  somebody's  life,  the  little  sacrifice 
that  blossomed  into  joy,  the  helpful  friendship — all  these  we  shall 
find  again;  and  the  patience  we  have  gained,  the  'song  in  the 
night,'  which  we  have  learned — whatever  of  beauty,  tenderness, 
faith,  or  love  we  can  put  into  other  lines  or  our  own — will  be 
among  our  treasures  in  heaven." — Forward. 

The  Last  Words  of  a  Great  Man. 

Andrew  Jackson  died  on  Sunday,  June  8,  1845.  The  family 
and  slaves  gathered  around  this  great  man  as  he  was  dying,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight.  "My  dear  children,"  he  said,  "do  hot 
grieve  for  me.  It  is  true  that  I  am  going  to  leave  you.  I  am 
well  aware  of  my  situation.  I  suffer  much  bodily  pain.  But  my 
sufferings  are  as  nothing  compared  with  those  which  our  blessed 
Savior  endured,  that  he  might  save  all  that  put  their  trust  in 
him.  I  hope  and  trust  to  meet  you  all  in  heaven,  both  white  and 
black — both  white  and  black."  Then  he  kissed  each  one,  his  eyes 
resting  last  upon  his  grand-daughter,  Rachel,  and  death  came. 

The  Heavenly  Welcome. 

Deacon  Wilkins  was  a  good  man  who  had  devoted  his  life 
to  relieving  the  distresses  of  the  poor.  A  little  child  who  knew 
him  well,  when  she  heard  of  his  last  sickness,  was  very  sad  till 
his  death  came,  and  then  her  face  brightened,  and  she  said:  "Oh, 
mamma,  I'm  thinking  how  happy  God  must  be  today  to  have 
Deacon  Wilkins  with  him!" 

It  was  a  little  child's  way  of  expressing  the  impression  which 
such  a  life  makes  upon  the  world.  The  good  man  had  gone  to 
the  joy  awaiting  one  who  had  given  to  thousands  a  cup  of  cold 
water  and  a  word  of  help  and  cheer  in  his  name. — The  Youth's 
Companion. 


404  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Not-^One  Regret. 
As  a  city  missionary  for  many  years,  I  have  been  at  the  death- 
bed of  many  a  man  and  woman.  I  have  heard  all  manner  of 
confessions  from  those  who  were  drawing  near  their  end.  Some 
have  told  of  how  their  life  has  been  full  of  trouble.  Others  have 
told  of  how  they  have  made  a  failure  of  their  opportunities. 
Others  still  have  mourned  because  they  had  not  given  their  hearts 
to  the  Savior  before  they  came  to  their  latter  end.  But  there 
are  some  things  that  I  never  heard  at  any  dying  bed.  I  never 
heard  anyone  say,  "It  is  a  source  of  grief  to  me  that  I  have  tried 
to  live  for  God  and  my  fellowmen." — SchauMer. 

Permanence. 

Someone  tells  the  story  that  a  courtier  riding  in  all  the  splendor 
of  a  triumphal  kingly  procession,  asked  his  sovereign  this  ques- 
tion: "What  is  wanting  here?"  "Permanence,"  was  the  quick 
reply. 

Three  Deathbeds. 

Mr.  Pitt  on  his  deathbed  felt  and  deplored  his  own  neglect  of 
prayer.  When  told  of  his  imminent  danger,  and  invited  to  pre- 
pare himself  by  prayer  for  appearing  before  God,  "I  have  too 
long  neglected  prayer  during  life,"  said  he,  "to  have  much  confi- 
dence in  its  efficacy  on  my  deathbed.  But  I  throw  myself  on 
the  mercy  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ."  This  he  uttered  with 
a  fervency  but  humbleness  of  devotion  which  was  most  touching, 

Mrs.  Cartwright,  wife  of  the  famous  American  preacher,  was, 
after  her  husband's  death,  attending  a  meeting  at  Bethel  Chapel, 
a  mile  from  her  house.  She  was  called  upon  to  give  her  testi- 
mony, which  she  did  with  much  feeling,  concluding  with  the 
words,  "The  past  three  weeks  have  been  the  happiest  of  all  my 
life;  I  am  waiting  for  the  chariot."  When  the  meeting  broke  up, 
she  did  not  rise  with  the  rest.  The  minister  solemnly  saJd,  "The 
chariot  has  arrived." 

At  the  siege  of  Leith,  in  1560,  the  dying  Mary  of  Lorraine  was 
carried  from  her  bed  to  the  walls  of  the  castle,  to  watch  the  fight. 
As  the  sun  rose  out  of  the  forth,  she  saw  the  English  columns 
surge  like  the  sea  waves  against  the  granite  ramparts,  and,  like 
the  sea  waves,  fall  shattered  into  spray. 


THE   CALL   OF   THE   OTHER  WORLD  405 

The  Death  of  a  Christian. 

About  nine  o'clock,  Sir  Thomas  More  was  brought  by  the 
lieutenant  out  of  the  tower,  his  beard  being  long,  which  fashion 
he  had  never  before  used,  his  face  pale  and  lean,  carrying  in  his 
hands  a  red  cross,  casting  his  eyes  often  towards  heaven.  He 
had  been  unpopular  as  a  judge,  and  one  or  two  persons  in  the 
crowd  were  insolent  to  him ;  but  the  distance  was  short  and  soon 
over,  as  all  else  was  nearly  over  now.  The  scaffold  had  been 
awkwardly  erected,  and  shook  as  he  placed  his  foot  upon  the 
ladder.  "See  me  safe  up,"  he  said  to  Kingston.  "For  my  coming 
down  I  can  shift  for  myself."  He  then  repeated  the  Miserere 
psalm  on  his  knees ;  and  when  he  had  ended  and  had  risen,  the 
executioner  begged  his  forgiveness.  More  kissed  him.  "Thou 
art  to  do  me  the  greatest  benefit  that  I  can  receive,"  he  said.  The 
executioner  offered  to  bind  his  eyes. — Fronde. 

A  Saint's  Death. 

Saint  Cuthbert  bent  over  a  Roman  fountain  which  still  stood 
unharmed  among  the  ruins  of  Carlisle,  and  the  bystanders 
thought  they  caught  words  of  ill-omen  falling  from  the  old  man's 
lips.  In  a  few  days  more,  a  solitary  fugitive,  escaped  from  the 
slaughter,  told  that  the  Picts  had  turned  desperately  at  bay,  as 
the  English  army  entered  Fife ;  that  the  king  and  the  flower  of 
his  nobles  lay  a  ghastly  ring  of  corpses  on  the  moorland.  To 
Cuthbert  these  were  the  tidings  of  death.  A  signal  of  his  death 
had  been  agreed  upon,  and  one  of  those  who  stood  by  ran  with  a 
candle  in  each  hand  to  a  place  whence  the  light  might  be  seen 
by  a  monk  who  was  looking  out  from  the  watchtower  of  Lindis- 
farne.  As  the  tiny  gleam  flashed  over  the  dark  reach  of  sea,  and 
the  watchman  hurried  with  his  news  into  the  church,  the  brethren 
of  Holy  Island  were  singing,  as  it  chanced,  the  words  of  the 
psalmist,  "Thou  hast  cast  us  out  and  scattered  us  abroad ;  thou 
also  hast  been  displeased ;  thou  hast  shown  thy  people  heavy 
things;  thou  hast  given  us  a  drink  of  deadly  wine."  The  chant 
was  the  dirge,  not  of  Cuthbert  only,  but  of  his  church  and  people. 
— Green's  History  of  England. 

Savonarola's  Death. 

I  stand  among  the  pitiless  multitude  in  the  piazza  on  that 
memorable  day.  They  make  him  taste  the  agony  of  death  twice 
in  the  death  of  his  monks;  then  he  submits  his  neck  to  the  halter, 


406  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

and  the  hangman  thrusts  him  from  the  scaffold,  where  the  others 
hang  dangling  in  their  chains  above  their  pyre  that  h  to  consume 
their  bodies.  "Prophet!"  cries  an  echo  of  the  mocking  voice  on 
Calvary,  "now  is  the  time  for  a  miracle."  The  hangman  thinks 
to  please  the  crowd  by  playing  the  buffoon  with  the  quivering 
form.  A  yell  of  abhorrence  breaks  from  them,  and  he  makes 
haste  to  descend  and  kindle  the  fire  that  it  may  reach  Savanarola 
while  he  is  still  alive.  A  wind  rises  and  blows  the  flame  away. 
The  crowd  shrinks  back  terrified.  "A  miracle !  A  miracle !"  But 
the  wind  drops  again,  and  the  bodies  slowly  burn,  dropping  a  rain 
of  blood  into  the  hissing  embers.  The  heat  moving-  the  right 
hand  of  Savonarola,  he  seems  to  lift  it  and  bless  the  multitude. 
The  Piagnoni  fall  on  the  ground,  sobbing  and  groaning;  the 
Arabbiatti  set  on  a  crew  of  ribald  boys,  who,  dancing  and  yelling 
round  the  fire,  pelt  the  dead  martyrs  with  a  shower  of  stones. — 
Howells. 

Waiting  for  the  Summons. 
"The  caged  bird,  that  all  the  autumn  day 
In  quiet  dwells,  when  falls  the  autumn  eve, 
Seeks  how  its  liberty  it  may  achieve — 
Beats  at  the  wires  and  Jts  poor  wings   doth  fray: 
For  now  desire  of  migrant  change  doth  sway: 
This  summer  vacant  land  it  longs  to  leave. 
While  its  free  peers  on  tireless  pinions  cleave 
The  haunted  twilight,    speeding   south   their   way. 
Not  otherwise  than  as  the  prisoned  bird 
We  here  dwell,  careless  of  our  captive  state, 
Until  light  dwi'ndles,  and  the  year  grows  late. 
And  answering  note  to  note  no  more  is  heard: 
Then,   our  loved  fellows  flown,  the  soul   is   stirred. 
To  follow  them  where  summer  has  no  date." 
"My  Crown  of  Glory." 
A   minister    fell    into   company    with   another   traveler.      After 
riding  and  talking  together  for  some  time,  the  stranger,  looking 
into  his  face,  said,  "S!r,  I  think  you  must  be  on  the  wrong  side 
of  fifty."      "On  the  wrong  side  of  fifty!      No,  sir,  I  am  on  the 
right  side  of  fifty."     "Surely,"  the  traveler  answered,  "you  must 
be  turned  fifty."     "Yes,  sir,  but  I  am  on  the  right  side  of  fifty, 
for  every  year  I  live  I  am  nearer  my  crown  of  glory." 


SERVICE  SIXTEEN— Sunday  Morning 
Opportunity  I     Responsibility  I 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XVI 

Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God. — Jude  21. 

I  know  thy  works. — Rev.  5. •5. 

But  that  which  ye  have  already,  hold  fast  till  I  come. 
— Rev.  2:25. 

Even  so  ye,  forasmuch  as  ye  are  zealous  of  spiritual 
gifts,  seek  that  ye  may  excel  to  the  edifying  of  the 
church. — /  Cor.  14:12. 

For  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ. — Rom.  14:10. 

Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye 
do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God. — i  Cor.  10:31. 

That  ye  may  be  blameless. — Phil.  2:15. 

Finally,  my  brethren,  be  strong  in  the  Lord. — Eph. 
6:10. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God. — Jude  21. 

1.  Sin  makes  men  lose  the  sense  of  God's  love. 

2.  The  cross  reveals  God's   love. 

3.  Conversion,  believing,  is  entrance  into  heart-realiza- 

tion of  this  love. 

4.  Growth   in   grace   depends   upon   keeping  in   it;    (1) 

Fellowship  with  Christ  in  his  word.   (2)   In  pray- 
er.   (3)  In  gracious  ministries  to  others  for  his  sake. 

I  know  thy  works. — Rev.  3 :8. 

1.  The  all-seeing  God. 

2.  Christ  notes  fidelity  and  neglect. 

3.  "Practicing  the  presence  of  God"  conduces  to  zeal. 

But  that  which  ye  have  already,  hold  fast  till  I  come. — Rev. 
2:25. 

1.  Salvation  a  trust  committed  to  us;  opportunity. 

2.  Our  lifework  is  to  safeguard  it ;  responsibility. 

3.  The  Master  is   coming  for  an  accounting;   account- 

ability. 

Even  so  ye,  forasmuch  as  ye  are  zealous  of  spiritual  gifts, 
seek  that  ye  may  excel  to  the  edifying  of  the  church. — 1  Cor. 
14:12. 

1.  .Selfish  desire  for  spiritual  power;  "zealous  of  spir- 

itual gifts." 

2,  Unselfish    desire;     "excel    to    the    edifying    of    the 

church." 

For  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ.— 
Rom.  14:10. 

1.  The  great  day  of  accounting. 

2.  The  influence  of  its  anticipation  upon  our  living. 

3.  Life   decides   destiny. 

Whether  therefore,  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatever  ye  do,  do  all 
to  the  glory  of  God. — 1  Cor.  10:31. 

1.  Life's  noblest   motive. 

2.  All  inclusive. 

3;     Such    life    and    worship    co-extensive. 


410  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

That  ye  may  be  blameless. — Phil.  2 :15. 

1.  A  high  ideal. 

2.  Possible   of   attainment;   "She   hath   done   what   she 

could;"     "A   faithful    minister   of   Jesus    Christ;" 
"Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant." 

3.  A  lower  ideal  is  sinful. 

Finally,  my  brethren,  be  strong  in  the  Lord. — Eph.  6:10. 

1.  A  summary  of  duty. 

2.  Spiritual  strength. 

3.  Obtained,  not  attained;  "in  the  Lord. 


SUGGESTIONS 

This  service  should  be  used  to  make  any  who  have  remained 
indifferent  to  the  solemn  responsibility  resting  upon  them,  realize 
their  accountability  to  God  for  their  neglect.  It  should  also  be 
a  toning  up  service  for  the  faithful,  to  stimulate  them  to  even 
greater  zeal. 

It  is  best  to  close  the  series  of  services  when  interest  is  deepest. 
To  wait  until  it  begins  to  wane  is  harmful.  There  will  always 
be  those  who  are  eager  to  have  the  series  prolonged,  but,  unless 
the  indications  in  favor  of  it  are  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  do  not 
continue. 

If  you  plan  to  hold  weekly  or  semi-weekly  conferences  with 
those  who  expect  to  unite  with  the  church,  for  spiritual  training, 
emphasize  the  announcement  this  morning. 

A  brief  evangelistic  talk  in  the  Sunday  school  can  well  have  a 
place. 

Personal  words  to  individual  teachers  with  reference  to  special 
members  of  their  classes  will  count  for  good. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Buckle  cared  more  for  his  work  than  for  himself;  he  was 
content  to  work  with  patient  reticence,  unknown  and  unheard  of, 
for  twenty  years.  He  had  scarcely  won  for  himself  the  place 
which  he  deserved,  than  his  health  was  found  shattered  by  his 
labors.  He  went  abroad  to  recover  strength  for  his  work,  but 
his  work  was  done  with  and  over.  He  died  of  a  fever  at 
Damascus,  vexed  only  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  it  uncom- 
pleted. Almost  his  last  conscious  words  were,  "My  book!  My 
book !  I  shall  never  finish  my  book."  He  went  away  as  he  had 
lived,  nobly  careless  of  himself,  and  thinking  only  of  the  thing 
which  he  had  undertaken  to  do. — Froude. 

"I  have  educated  five  observers,"  said  Louis  Agassiz,  when 
asked,  after  he  had  spent  fifteen  years  as  a  teacher  of  science 
in  this  country,  what  was  the  best  result  of  his  efforts.  He 
thought  the  noblest  profession  in  all  the  world  was  that  of  teacher. 

Some  men  are  said  to  be  self-made  men.  The  meaning  of  this 
is  that  they  began  life  without  means  and  with  meager  advantages, 
and  by  the  dint  of  their  own  energy  and  industry  have  ri'sen  to 
distinction.  Many  take  all  the  credit  to  themselves  for  their 
attainments  and  their  achievements.  A  great  king  once  said,  "Is 
not  this  great  Babylon  which  I  have  builded?"  There  are  modern 
men  of  like  passions.  They  have  never  learned  the  lesson  taught 
in  the  Bible  that  they  have  nothing  which  they  have  not  received. 
They  have  not  made  all,  nor  won  all,  but  received  all. 

Saint  James  says,  "Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is 
from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights."  It  is 
written  in  the  Psalms,  "The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us 
whereof  we  are  glad."  And  the  psalmist  sings  this  to  his  soul, 
"Return  unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul ;  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt  bounti- 
fully with  thee."  No  man  is  self-made.  God  has  made  all  that 
is  good  in  us,  and  has  freely  given  unto  us  all  that  is  worth  hav- 
ing. These  mercies  have  come  down  to  us  through  various  chan- 
nels, but  all  have  come  from  God. — The  Christian  Advocate. 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  413 

There  isn't  a  saint  before  the  throne  of  God  who  got  there  by 
chance.  "An  abundant  entrance"  is  as  possible  today  as  ever, 
but  it  is  not  administered  to  the  weak-kneed  and  faint-hearted. 
If  you  really  want  a  crown,  you  must  foster  your  strength  and  go 
to  fighting  for  it. 

Norman  Macleod  once  wrote,  "In  Campbeltown  I  forgot 
God  altogether."  Backsliding  Christians  lose  their  power  to  help 
other  imperilled  souls. 

Lost  souls  are  all  about  us.  They  are  our  neighbors,  in  the 
houses  next  to  us.  They  are  in  our  congregations.  Some  of 
them  are  in  our  churches,  and  sit  with  us  at  the  communion 
table.  They  are  in  our  Sabbath  schools,  and  some  of  them  are 
teaching  classes.  They  are  in  our  homes.  Wherever  we  turn 
we  meet  them.  They  are  our  friends,  with  whom  we  mingle  every 
day.  We  are  doing  business  with  them  and  hold  them  in  esteem. 
We  would  not  like  to  be  deprived  of  their  social  and  business  life 
and  influence.  Pleasant  people,  kind  neighbors,  husbands  and 
wives,  but  lost.  They  are  lost  to  all  spiritual  life,  to  all  holy 
affection,  to  God  and  heaven.  They  have  not  been  born  from 
above,  have  never  repented  of  sin  and  turned  to  God.  They  are 
enemies  of  God  by  wicked  works,  and  yet  are  not  conscious  of 
their  condition.  Many  of  them  justify  themselves  on  the  basis 
of  their  outward  morality,  and  are  saying,  "What  lack  I  yet?" — 
S.  E.  Wishard,  D.  D. 

A  weak  faith  on  the  part  of  Christians  means  a  weak  influence 
upon  others.  An  old  minister  said  strikingly,  "I  regret  no  sermon 
which  has  come  out  with  'This  is  so;'  I  have  regretted  a  good 
many  which  have  come  out  with  Ts  this  so?'"  Luther's  word 
would  have  sounded  very  different  if  he  had  said,  "Here  I  drift; 
I  can  do  no  other."  Men  outside  have  not  asked  for  a  cock- 
sureness  that  has  forgotten  how  to  question  and  investigate.  They 
have  not  asked  for  bondage  to  a  form.  Not  many  have  echoed 
the  thoughtless  cry  against  creeds.  When  a  man  said  to  me,  "I 
believe  that  no  man  ought  to  have  a  creed,"  I  doubt  if  he  saw 
the  contradiction  in  his  sentence.  Probably  most  men  have 
rejoiced  in  the  relaxing  of  doctrinal  stringency,  wisely  or  not. 
But  how  shall  men  be  drawn  to  a  faith  which  is  not  sure  of  itself? 
How  shall  men  commit  themselves  to  a  vessel  whose  crew  are  all 
wearing  life  preservers? — Selected. 


414  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  world  also  will  suffer  as  well  as  the  church  if  we  are  not 
fervent.  We  cannot  expect  a  gospel  devoid  of  earnestness  to 
have  any  mighty  effect  upon  the  unconverted  around  us.  One 
of  the  excuses  most  soporific  to  the  conscience  of  an  ungodly 
generation  is  that  of  half-heartedness  in  the  preacher.  If  the 
sinner  finds  the  Christian  nodding  while  he  talks  of  judgment  to 
come,  he  concludes  that  the  judgment  is  a  thing  which  he  is 
dreaming  about,  and  he  resolves  to  regard  it  all  as  mere  fiction. 
The  whole  outside  world  receives  serious  danger  from  the  cold- 
hearted  Christian,  for  it  draws  the  same  conclusion  as  the  indivi- 
dual sinner ;  it  perseveres  in  its  own  listlessness,  it  gives  its  strength 
to  its  own  transient  objects,  and  thinks  itself  wise  for  so  doing. 
How  can  it  be  otherwise? — Spurgeon. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  somewhere  speaks  of  the  experiments 
made  at  West  Point  to  test  the  strength  of  guns.  He  said  that 
Colonel  Buford  ordered  the  pieces  of  artillery  fired  once,  twice, 
ten  times,  twenty  times,  in  rapid  succession — fifty  times  and  a 
hundred  times.  At  the  hundredth  shot  the  gun  exploded.  Mr. 
Emerson  asks  which  discharge  burst  the  gun,  and  his  answer  is, 
"Every  charge."  When  finally  the  great  superstition  between  the 
Rockies  and  the  Sierras  shall  be  broken  to  pieces,  it  shall  be 
every  lesson  taught  in  the  chapel  school  houses,  every  sermon 
preached  in  the  chapels,  every  bit  of  work  done  in  all  the  years 
of  the  past,  that  wfll  have  contributed  to  the  result  until  the 
accumulating  energy  of  a  generation  of  self-sacrificing  work  for 
Christ  shall  have  brought  on  a  detonation  which  shall  be  heard 
across  the  land,  and  the  giant  superstition  shall  fall.  There  is 
nothing  too  hard  for  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  So  I  say  to  you 
that  on  Indian  reservations,  in  mining  camps,  in  newly  built  cities, 
and  in  the  Mormon  fanaticism,  there  is  a  resistance  that  only 
patient  work  and  faith  in  God  Almighty  and  the  combined  energies 
of  the  church  of  Christ  are  going  to  overcome. — Sunday  School 
Times. 

Watch  for  opportunities  for  service.  A  man  saw  that  the  sand 
of  the  Atlantic  coast,  when  driven  by  the  storms,  as  it  often  was, 
would,  after  a  while,  grind  the  lenses  of  the  lighthouses  and  make 
them  semi-opaque.  Then  he  interpreted  the  meaning  of  what  he 
saw.     Sand  driven  by  a  Wast  will  grind  glass.     If  the  blast  can 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  41S 

be  controlled  and  the  sand  can  be  driven  in  accordance  with  a 
plan,  Jt  may  be  made  to  grind  patterns  on  glass.  Then  he  dared 
to  spend  his  money  to  test  the  value  of  his  thought.  So  came  the 
sand  blast  of  modern  art.  We  remember  the  first  mowing  machine 
tried  on  our  home  farm  more  than  a  half  century  ago.  The  long 
bar,  to  which  little  triangles  of  knives  were  riveted,  played  back 
and  forth  between  a  score  or  two  of  "V"-shaped  guards,  the  "V" 
being  horizontal  with  its  point  forward  toward  the  grass.  That 
machine  was  stopped  so  that  four  horses  could  not  draw  it.  The 
knives  had  drawn  the  bits  of  grass  into  the  open  spaces  of  the 
guards,  packed  them  full,  hard  and  tight,  and  the  machine  was 
dead.  A  mechanic  in  Cayuga  county,  New  York,  saw  this  sort  of 
thing  on  some  machine.  ''Here  is  my  opportunity,"  he  said. 
He  bought  a  machine,  filed  out  two-thirds  of  the  upper  bar  of 
the  horizontal  "V,"  patented  the  invention,  and  was  rich,  very 
rich,  in  a  few  years. 

Men  do  not  reckon  with  themselves  as  they  ought  in  this  matter 
of  opportunity.  The  eye  is  given  for  seeing,  and  he  sins  who 
shuts  his  eyes  to  the  sights  to  be  seen  in  God's  world.  The  ear 
is  given  for  hearing,  and  he  sins  who  shuts  his  ears  to  the  sounds 
to  be  heard  on  every  side.  One  who  waits  for  a  hermit  thrush 
to  fly  to  his  dooryard  and  sing  from  a  lilac  bush  by  his  porch  will 
never  hear  the  incomparable  note.  To  hear  the  hermit  thrush 
one  must  make  the  opportunity. 

No  sluggard  ever  overtook  opportunity.  No  dawdler  ever  com- 
pelled destiny.  It  is  the  one  who  dares  and  does  things  who  is 
master  of  events.  Genius  invents  an  air-brake,  but  lacks  the 
power  to  compel  its  use.  Another  genius  in  a  place  of  power 
applies  it  to  the  trains  of  a  great  railway  and  multiplies  the  safety 
of  passenger  travel  a  thousandfold.  Success  is  the  result  of  stub- 
born stress.  The  cry  'T  had  no  chance"  will  not  pass  as  a  prayer 
for  forgiveness.  To  every  living  soul  there  comes  some  oppor- 
tunity. The  soul  that  sees  it,  seizes  it,  compels  it  to  be  its  own, 
rises  to  power. — R.  S.  Holmes,  D.  D. 

Have  we  lost  compassion  for  souls?  Have  we  ceased  to  be 
troubled  over  their  condition?  Have  we  no  more  burdens,  no 
tears  for  the  multitudes  that  are  rushing  to  destruction? 


416  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  old  prophet  cried  out,  "Oh,  that  my  head  were  waters, 
and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  oi  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and 
night  for  the  slaiii  of  the  daughter  of  my  people !"  Their  sorrows 
were  his. 

Moses  pleaded  for  the  life  of  the  sinners  against  God.  "Oh, 
this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made  them  gods  of 
gold.  Yet  now,  if  thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin — ;  and  if  not,  blot 
me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book  which  thou  hast  written."  As 
if  he  had  said,  "Reckon  their  sins  to  me,  and  let  me  die  with 
them."  His  compassion,  suffering  with  them,  was  so  great  that  he 
was  ready  to  die,  rather  than  live  and  see  his  people  destroyed. 

The  same  sentiment,  the  same  pity  for  the  lost,  compassion  for 
the  unsaved,  is  heard  in  that  cry  of  Scotland's  apostle,  John 
Knox,    "God,  give  me  Scotland,  or  I  die !" — Herald  and  Presbyter. 

"At   vesper   tide. 
One  virtuous  and  pure  in  heart  did  pray, 
'Since  none  I  wronged  in  deed  or  word  today. 
From  whom  should  I  crave  pardon?      Master,  say.' 

A  voice  replied: 
'From  the  sad  child  whose  joy  thou  hast  not  planned. 
The  goaded  beast  whose  friend  thou  didst  not  stand; 
The  rose  that  died  for  water  from  thy  hand.'  " 

No  one  should  keep  the  thought  of  death  before  him.  Every 
one  should  consider  death  most  thoughtfully  for  himself,  dispose 
of  it,  and  work  on  calmly  the  rest  of  his  days.  But  we  are  not 
to  put  the  thought  of  death  so  far  away  that  we  forget  to  take 
soundings  on  the  voyage.  It  is  well  to  take  soundings  even 
when  you  are  not  in  danger.  If  you  sound  and  find  twenty 
fathoms  and  sound  again  and  find  fifteen  fathoms,  you  are  shoaling 
quickly.  I  would  have  every  one  of  you  dear  fellows,  who  read 
this,  to  "heave  out  the  lead."  Have  you  realized  how  far  your 
ship  has  gone  ?  Heave  out  the  lead !  Take  a  look  at  others. 
When  you  came  back  after  a  long  absence,  you  went  to  see  your 
old  chum.  My,  how  surprised  you  were;  the  stripling  of  a  lad 
had  developed  into  a  full-grown  man.  Of  another  you  thought, 
"What  an  old  chap  he  is  getting."  But  remember  that  you  look 
as  old  in  his  eyes  as  he  does  in  yours.  It  is  strange  how  we  can 
mark  landslides  in  others  that  we  can  not  note  in  ourselves.    Take 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  417 

soundings.  You  are  in  the  drift.  The  current  is  the  gulf  stream, 
carrying  you  toward  arctic  regions.  The  snow  is  fast  falling 
on  the  summit.  Life  is  shoaling  fast  with  us  all.  The  tracks 
of  the  "crow's  foot"  are  to  be  seen  around  the  eyes.  The  mirror 
reveals  the  gray  hairs.  We  are  fast  nearing  some  shore.  Throw 
out  the  lead  !      Take  soundings ! — Selected. 

It  is  an  unquestionable  fact  that,  while  the  average  church 
member  may  entertain  kindly  sentiments  toward  these  lost  multi- 
tudes, he  has  little  or  no  compassion  for  them  in  their  dreadful 
state.  He  never  goes  to  his  lost  neighbor  with  a  word  of  afiFec- 
tionate  entreaty.  How  few  of  our  church  members  have  enough 
compassion  for  the  souls  that  are  deliberately  marching  down  to 
endless  woe  to  go  after  them,  to  attempt  to  constrain  them  to 
turn  to  God  and  live.  It  is  questionable  whether  there  are  ten 
souls  in  a  church  of  several  hundred  members  who  make  it  their 
business  to  try  to  persuade  their  unsaved  neighbors  to  turn  to 
God. — Herald  and  Presbyter. 

One  of  the  largest  benefits  of  evangelistic  services  is  the  deep- 
ening of  spiritual  purpose  and  life  in  the  church.  The  church 
takes  a  new  place  in  the  community  when  so  filled  with  the 
redemptive  love  of  Jesus  Christ  that  it  is  no  longer  willing  to 
regard  itself  as  existing  for  its  own  enjoyment.  The  church  is 
a  force,  not  merely  a  felicity.  The  effect  of  a  revival  is  the  redis- 
covery and  the  rehabilitation  of  the  church  as  the  body  of  Christ 
in  the  world.  Every  consideration  of  human  interest  demands 
that  we  should  gladly  welcome  and  support  religious  activities 
calculated  to  accomplish  the  results  mentioned.— Co wrac/, 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Conquered  After  Defeat. 
Because  we  have  just  failed  is  no  reason  for  giving  up.  It  is 
the  more  reason  for  not  giving  up.  Mr.  Speer  tells  of  a  boy  who, 
preparing  for  Yale,  saw  a  football  game  between  Yale  and  Prince- 
ton, in  which  Yale  won.  He  watched  the  Princeton  men,  after 
their  team's  defeat,  singing  and  singing,  cheering  and  cheering, 
and  then  marching  in  a  great,  solid  mass,  still  singing  and  cheering, 
down  into  the  city.  After  he  had  reached  home,  the  boy  said  to 
his  father,  "I  believe  I  would  like  to  go  to  Princeton."  "But 
you  know  they  got  licked  today."  "Oh,  yes;  but  they  didn't 
know  it!  I  would  like  to  go  to  a  college  where  they  don't  know 
when  they  are  beaten."  And  Mr.  Speer  adds,  heartily,  "Shall  men 
have  less  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  their  moral  life?"  A  defeat 
by  sin  is  not  meant  to  be  the  end  of  the  fight.  It  must  not  be,  if 
we  will  only  obey  orders  from  the  front.  The  captain  is  never 
through  with  a  beaten  man,  unless  the  man  turns  deserter. 

Service. 

Should  our  Lord  suddenly  come  into  one  of  our  churches  and 
pass  through  the  congregation  and  speak  to  certain  Christian  men 
and  women  in  this  way,  "You  will  be  saved  because  you  have 
believed  in  me,  but  I  have  no  use  for  you  in  my  service.  I  can- 
not use  you ;  you  are  of  no  account  as  a  servant ;"  and  then  should 
turn  to  another  and  another  and  say,  "You  also  shall  be  saved 
because  you  have  believed  in  me ;  but  you  I  choose  and  appoint 
for  service ;  I  have  found  in  you  that  disposition  which  I  highly 
prize  and  am  delighted  to  employ  in  carrying  out  my  purposes  of 
grace  toward  sinners.  I  make  you  a  'steward  of  tlie  manifold 
grace  of  God;'  be  faithful  and  I  will  gJve  you  a  crown  of 
righteousness  in  that  day  when  I  reward  my  servants,"  would 
not  those  who  had  been  set  aside  and  denied  the  privilege  of  serv- 
ing their  Lord  feel  that  they  were  being  deprived  of  an  inestima- 
ble privilege?  Well,  there  are  hundreds  who  perhaps  have  not 
been  prohibited  from  serving  the  Master,  but  have  voluntarily 
withdrawn  from  any  personal  service  for  him,  and  are  no  doubt 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  4if 

secretly   set   aside   from   service.      Just   as   men   who   indulge   in 
unbelief  are  secretly  cut  off  from  life. 

The  Train  Was  Coming. 

An  incident  occurred  a  few  years  ago  at  Hyde  Park,  which, 
it  seems  to  me,  illustrated  the  working  church.  A  crowd  stood 
on  the  platform,  waiting  for  the  train.  There  were  judges,  men 
of  business,  ladies,  newspaper  boys  and  bootblacks  in  the  crowd, 
and  on  the  track  was  an  old  man.  Soon  the  rumble  of  the 
approaching  trafn  was  heard,  and  all  at  once  a  scream  went  up 
from  the  people,  for  that  old  man  on  the  track.  One  of  the 
judges,  with  his  paper  in  his  hand,  was  signaling  to  the  man  to 
get  off  the  track.  Some  of  the  ladies  were  crying.  The  little 
bootblacks  shouted  and  swung  their  kits.  The  old  man  did  not 
hear,  and  finally  one,  who  stood  there,  rushed  out  and  caught 
hold  of  him  and  pulled  him  off  the  track;  with  no  very  gentle 
grasp,  to  be  sure,  but  he  was  saved.  I  did  not  hear  anyone  say, 
"How  did  you  like  the  way  in  which  I  presented  to  that  man  the 
reasons  for  coming  off  the  track?"  The  ladies  didn't  say,  "How 
did  my  train  hang,  and  did  my  dress  look  well  as  I  ran  across 
the  platform?"  Nothing  of  the  kind.  The  man  was  saved,  and 
that  was  all  anybody  cared  for.  I  have  been  criticized  many 
times  for  my  way  of  doing.  The  other  day,  a  brother  spoke  of 
my  using  my  first  clenched,  and  all  those  little  things.  I  tell  you, 
my  friends,  men  are  on  the  track,  and  will  be  run  over  and 
destroyed  unless  we  pull  them  off,  and  never  mind  these  little 
matters  as  to  how  we  look  while  we  are  doing  it.  Let  us  keep 
our  minds  on  this  one  thing,  how  to  save  them  from  death. — 
^Major  Cole. 

The  Reflex  Influence  of  Devoted  Service. 
An  Italian  painter,  Verrochio,  was  at  work  on  a  great  picture, 
but  because  of  the  infirmities  of  old  age,  he  was  not  able  to  com- 
plete it.  He  urged  his  pupil.  Da  Vinci,  to  undertake  the  task  of 
finishing  it.  The  young  man  shrank  from  the  responsibility,  but 
the  old  man  pleaded.  "Do  your  best.  Da  Vinci,  for  my  sake,"  he 
said.  The  young  man  undertook  the  work,  and  did  his  best  for 
his  master's  sake.  With  the  effort  came  a  new  sense  of  responsi- 
bility. He  became  conscious  of  new  powers  and  aspirations. 
Genius  was  awakened.     The  picture  completed  was  a  triumph  of 


420  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

art,  and  the  old  man  wept  for  joy.  There  are  spiritual  powers 
and  gifts  in  our  heaven-borh  nature,  of  which  we  will  never  be 
sensible  until  we  come  to  a  clear  consciousness  of  our  ambassador- 
ship. And  this  cannot  be  until,  in  all  our  work,  we  seek  his 
approval  rather  than  man's. — The  Master  Workman. 

The  Only  Life  Work  That  Endures. 

Build  the  greatest  monuments  of  earth,  and  have  the  greatest 
number  of  jewels  that  you  please,  it  is  only  to  be  added  to  the 
great  conflagration  at  the  end.  "The  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be 
dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat."  Get 
something  that  will  not  be  burned.  The  beauty  of  real  Christianity 
is  this:  None  will  sing  a  louder  hallelujah  than  the  believers 
themselves  over  the  hay  and  stubble,  and  reserve  the  gold  and 
silver  to  the  glory  of  God.  The  best  way  for  us  all  to  do  our  work 
is  for  us  to  do  it  ourselves ;  if  each  man  does  his  work  thoroughly, 
and  each  one  sticks  to  his  own  place — has  found  out  his  place  and 
sticks  to  it — and  finds  out  his  work  and  does  it,  then  the  great 
Christian  work  will  go  on. 

In  the  coral  reefs  in  the  southern  seas  you  see  the  corals  work- 
ing. They  don't  ask  if  the  other  is  doing  its  work;  they  don't 
appoint  committees  to  see  if  they  are  all  working.  They  each 
work  along  and  build  up  those  great  barriers  and  reefs.  They 
are  unconscious,  but  not  unworthy  instruments,  by  which  a  hand 
invisible  rears  magnificent  structures  in  the  mysterious  deep. 
Look  at  wrestling  Jacob.  I  believe  Jacob's  wrestling  was  his 
weakness.  God  in  his  grace  would  make  him  his  witness.  A 
man  wrestled  with  him,  and  he  had  to  put  his  thigh  out  of  joint 
before  he  could  get  him  to  his  senses. 

One  great  hindrance,  if  not  the  greatest  hindrance  that  I  know 
of,  is  this.  I  draw  your  attention  to  a  passage  in  the  gospel 
according  to  Luke,  the  ninth  chapter.  Christ  called  his  twelve 
disciples,  "and  gave  them  power  and  authority  over  all  devils,  and 
to  cure  diseases,  and  he  sent  them  to  preach  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  to  heal  the  sick ;"  and  so  on.  They  got  authority 
over  all  devils,  and  diseases,  without  exception.  The  next  thing 
you  hear  of  them  is,  a  poor  man  brought  his  son  to  have  a  devil 
cast  out  of  him.  They  had  all  'authority,  and  it  was  not  a  ques- 
tion of  divine  power.      They  had  authority  given  to  them.      Why 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  421 

had  they  not  power  to  do  it?  They  had  no  faith.  But  why  did 
they  not  have  faith?  Read  on  and  you  will  find  where  the  secret 
of  it  lies:  ''Then  there  arose  a  reasoning  among  them,  which 
of  them  should  be  greatest."  That  is  the  point.  Is  it  the  case 
with  us?  The  Lord  help  us  to  examine  our  work,  and  see  if  "for 
us  to  live  is  Christ"  or  self. — Moody. 

Popular  With  God. 
A  certain  bishop  says  that  he  has  received  many  letters  from 
churches  describing  the  pastor  they  wish  sent  to  minister  to  them. 
Some  have  written  him  to  send  a  man  who  would  be  popular  with 
outsiders ;  some  want  a  man  popular  with  the  young  people ;  and 
yet  others  request  a  man  who  would  be  popular  with  those  who 
emphasize  a  certain  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  But  the  bishop  declares 
that  he  has  never  yet  had  a  request  for  a  man  who  was  popular 
with  God.  How  congregational  ideals  account  for  meager  spirit- 
ual harvests !  Set  God  in  the  supreme  place  in  our  hearts  and 
lives  and  multitudes  of  souls  will  be  swept  into  the  kingdom. 
The   Triumphant    Shout. 

At  the  time  of  the  nomination  of  Lincoln  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  an  effort  was  being  made  by  eastern  men  to  nomi- 
nate Seward.  There  was  at  that  time  a  resident  of  Chicago,  whose 
voice  could  drown  the  roar  of  Lake  Michigan  in  its  wildest  fury 
and  could  be  heard  across  the  lake  on  a  calm  day.  Another  man 
in  the  west  had  never  found  his  equal  in  ability  to  shout  and 
huzza.  These  two  men,  with  powerful  voices,  came  to  the  con- 
vention, organized  a  party  to  cheer  and  shout  at  the  first  mention 
of  the  name  of  Lincoln.  When  the  time  arrived  during  the 
immense  gathering,  at  a  given  signal  there  rose  such  a  shout  as 
had  not  been  heard  since  they  cry  of  Marmion  on  Flodden  Field, 
and  the  friends  of  Seward  were  discouraged.  They  tried  to 
follow  with  cheers  for  their  candidate,  but  they  were  instantly 
and  absolutely  drowned  by  the  storm  of  applause  and  cheers  for 
Lincoln,      Thus  did  right  win  the  day. 

The  Lord  mighty  in  battle,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  wants  us  to 
shout  for  him.  He  wants  our  whole-hearted  service.  At  one 
time  in  the  history  of  Israel,  the  enemy  was  overcome  when  the 
singers  lifted  up  their  voices  unto  the  Lord  in  song.  So  are 
we  admonished  to  "make  a  joyful  noise  unto  the  Lord." — The 
Homiletic  Review. 


422  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

The  Fruitage  of  a  Consecrated  Life. 

About  eighty  years  agp,  a  merry,  thoughtless  girl  of  fourteen 
went  to  church  one  Sunday  morning  without  one  serious  thought 
in  her  mind.  But  the  Master's  invitation,  "Come  unto  me,"  struck 
home  to  her  heart,  and  then  and  there  she  gave  herself  to  be  his 
forever.  Soon  after,  she  had  an  alarming  illness,  and  from  that 
time  forward  her  health  was  always  delicate.  Obliged  to  give 
up  her  earnest  desire  for  missionary  work,  she  determined  to  use 
all  the  strength  she  had,  however  small  it  might  be.  To  get  time 
for  prayer  and  work,  she  rose  every  morning  at  five  and  kept 
up  the  habit  (except  during  illness)  for  seventy  years,  though  it 
cost  her  a  daily  struggle,  and  only  in  extreme  age  was  she  persu- 
aded to  make  the  hour  six  in  winter.  She  took  up  district  visit- 
ing, night  school  and  mothers'  meeting  work  enthusiastically,  and 
after  her  marriage  she  worked  untiringly  for  the  laborers  employed 
by  her  husband,  and  for  their  wives  and  children.  During  her 
thirty  years'  widowhood,  in  spite  of  continued  attacks  of  illness, 
her  labors  for  the  good  of  others  were  incessant  and  most  varied 
in  character.  When  over  seventy,  she  started  a  Bible  class  for 
mothers,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  were  soon  in  membership. 
Severe  illness  at  last  obliged  her  to  give  up  this  class,  but  on  her 
recovery,  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  many,  her  thoughts  turned 
to  the  children,  and  at  eighty-one  she  started  a  Band  of  Hope. 
The  numbers  so  rapidly  increased  that  three  years  later  she  built 
a  room  in  her  own  garden  for  the  meetings.  On  the  very  last 
evening  of  her  life,  after  a  full  day,  she  started  all  the  singing  at 
her  boys'  Band  of  Hope,  and  herself  gave  an  address. — Mary 
Rowles  Jarvis. 

Zeal  For  Christ. 

A  missionary  in  Russia  was  tried  and  sentenced  to  Siberia  for 
preaching  and  teaching  the  gospel,  and  that  without  his  knowing 
anything  about  the  trial,  "All  right,"  he  said,  when  he  heard 
the  sentence,  "that  is  where  I  have  been  wanting  to  go  for  some 
time.  I  long  to  preach  Christ  there,  and  I  have  been  studying 
how  I  might  get  there,  as  I  do  not  have  the  means,  and  now  the 
question  is  providentially  solved  for  me — I  am  to  go  at  the 
expense  of  the  government."  That  was  a  happy  solution  of  a 
perplexi'ng  question,  and  one  which  illustrates  the  fact  that  God 
sometimes   causes   the   wrath   of   man   to   praise  him.      There   is 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  422 

nothing  truer  than  that  God  has  his  eye  affectionately  upon  his 
children,  those  who  obediently  wait  for  his  will  and  wish,  and 
will  have  all  things  work  together  for  their  good.  Our  faith  in 
God  and  our  appreciation  of  his  personal  care  increases  as  the 
years  come  and  go.  He  furnishes  so  many  striking  illustrations 
of  his  care  that  the  fact  of  his  providence  is  as  plain  as  a,  b,  c. 
"The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want" — shall  lack  no  good 
thing. 

Honoring    God's    Claim. 

It  is  related  of  the  late  Chancellor  Cairns  that  when  he  was 
a  mere  lad  he  once  heard  three  words  which  made  a  memorable 
impression  upon  hJm,  "God  claims  you."  Then  came  the  question, 
"What  am  I  going  to  do  with  the  claim?"  He  answered,  "I  will 
own  it,  and  give  myself  to  God."  He  went  home  and  told  his 
mother,  "God  claims  me."  At  school  and  college  his  motto  was, 
"God  claims  me."  As  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  ultimately 
as  Lord  Chancellor,  it  was  still,  "God  claims  me."  When  he 
was  appointed  Lord  Chancellor,  he  was  teacher  of  a  large  Bible 
class,  and  his  minister,  thinking  that  now  he  would  not  have 
time  to  devote  to  that  purpose,  said  to  him,  "I  suppose  you  will 
now  require  to  give  up  your  class?"  "No,"  was  the  reply.  "I 
will  not;  God  claims  me." 

The  Best  Thing  He   Ever  Did. 

A  physician  in  Africa  never  did  a  better  thing  for  Christ  than 
on  a  trip,  of  which  he  wrote:  "I  went  with  the  determination  not 
only  to  preach  the  gospel,  but  to  bring  back  with  me  some  boys 
for  our  school.  I  knew  if  I  could  get  a  few  for  a  start,  we 
would  get  plenty  in  years  to  come.  The  Lord  answered  my  pray- 
ers, and  when  we  marched  back  through  streams  and  forests, 
about  seventy  prospective  pupils  went  with  me.  That  long  line 
of  children,  so  ignorant  and  needy,  some  footsore  and  weary, 
marching  away  from  their  homes  of  darkness  and  sin  toward 
the  light  of  the  dear  Savior  who  died  for  them,  was  a  sight 
which  would  move  a  heart  of  stone.  Sometimes  a  mother  in 
parting  with  her  child  would  follow  along  for  miles  and  then  take 
me  by  the  hands  and  with  tears  rolling  down  her  cheeks  say, 
'Doctor,  this  is  my  only  child,  you  will  take  good  care  of  him, 
won't  you?'  Human  nature  is  very  much  the  same  here  as 
elsewhere." 


424  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Christians  Who  Have  Lost  Christ. 

Mr.  Ruskin,  speaking  o^  the  ninth  capital  in  the  Ducal  Palace 
at  Venice,  says,  "It  is  decorated  with  figures  of  the  eight  virtues 
— Faith,  Hope,  Charity,  Justice,  Temperance,  Prudence,  Humility, 
and  Fortitude,  The  virtues  of  the  fourteenth  century  are  some- 
what hard-featured;  with  vivid  and  living  expression,  and  plain 
every-day  clothes  of  the  time.  Charity  has  her  lap  full  of  apples 
and  is  giving  one  to  a  little  child,  who  stretches  his  arm  for  it 
across  a  gap  in  the  leafage  of  the  capital.  Fortitude  tears  open 
a  lion's  jaws ;  Faith  lays  her  hand  on  her  breast,  as  she  beholds 
the  cross ;  and  Hope  is  praying,  while  above  is  a  hand  seen 
emerging  from  sunbeams — the  hand  of  God,  and  the  inscription 
above  is  'Spes  optima  in  Deo.'  This  design  is  rudely  imitated 
by  the  fifteenth  century  workmen :  the  virtues  have  lost  their  hard 
features  and  living  expression ;  they  have  now  all  got  Roman 
noses,  and  have  had  their  hair  curled.  Their  actions  and  emblems 
are,  however,  preserved  until  we  come  to  Hope — she  is  still  prais- 
ing, but  she  is  praising  to  the  sun  only ;  the  hand  of  God  is  gone !" 

Wordly  Christians  Endangering  Others. 
Some  time  ago,  I  came  up  from  Porto  Rico.  The  ship  that 
brought  me  was  caught  in  a  fearful  storm.  We  were  locked  in 
the  stateroom  to  keep  us  out  of  danger.  After  it  was  all  over,  I 
asked  the  captain  if  a  storm  like  that  was  not  the  thing  he  most 
feared.  No,  it  was  not.  Such  storms,  he  said,  were  common.  I 
asked  him  if,  in  sailing  to  the  north,  an  iceberg  was  not  the  thing 
most  feared.  And  again  he  said  there  were  other  things  more  to 
be  feared.  "What  is  it  then,"  I  asked,  "that  you  fear  most?" 
"A  derelict,"  he  said,  "a  derelict — a  ship  that  bears  no  compass,  no 
chart,  no  sailors,  no  commander,  that  sails  from  no  port,  and  to  no 
port,  that  gimply  drifts." — /,  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.  D. 

Improving  Opportunities. 
A  business  man  on  his  way  to  prayer  meeting  saw  a  stranger 
looking  wistfully  into  the  open  window  of  the  church,  and, 
moved  by  a  strong  impulse,  he  invited  him  to  go  in  with  him. 
The  stranger  consented,  and  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  Christian 
life  for  him  and  his  family.  He  afterward  said  to  the  friend  who 
invited  him  to  prayer  meeting,  "Do  you  know  that  I  have  lived 
in  this  city  seven  years  before  I  met  you,  and  no  one  had  ever 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  425 

asked  me  to  go  to  church?  I  had  not  been  here  three  days 
before  the  groceryman  and  the  dairyman  and  the  poHticians  had 
hunted  me  up,  yet  in  all  these  seven  years  you  were  the  first  man 
that  had  ever  expressed  an  interest  in  my  soul." — The  Baptist 
Record. 

Unimproved  Opportunities;  Culpable  Neglect. 

The  caves  of  Kentucky,  of  which  the  Mammoth  Cave  is  the 
largest  and  most  famous,  are  rich  in  saltpetre.  In  1806,  Dr. 
Brown,  of  Lexington,  rode  a  thousand  miles  on  horseback  to 
communicate  this  fact  to  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
and  six  or  seven  years  later,  the  information  became  of  great 
service  to  the  government,  during  the  war  with  Great  Britain. 
Some  time  after  that,  a  narrow  crevice  was  found  in  the  Mam- 
moth Cave,  opening  into  a  pit.  The  miners  had  an  idea  that  the 
place  must  be  very  rich  in  nitrous  earth,  and  this  opinion  led  to  a 
curious  discovery,  which  is  described  by  Dr.  Hovey,  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  American  Geographical  Society. 

One  of  the  miners,  in  making  an  examination  of  the  crevice, 
dropped  his  lamp.  He  climbed  down  a  little  way  into  the  ugly 
black  hole  and  felt  for  his  lamp  with  a  stick.  The  stick  in  turn 
slipped  from  his  hand,  and  went  rattling  down  into  the  abyss. 

The  lamp  was  a  simple  affair,  but,  as  it  could  not  be  replaced 
without  a  journey  of  two  hundred  miles,  its  loss  was  a  serious 
matter.  Accordingly  a  sprightly  young  negro  was  let  down  by  a 
rope,  as  a  sort  of  animated  plummet,  to  gauge  the  depth  of  the  pit. 

He  failed  to  recover  the  lamp,  but  brought  back  reports  of  an 
underground  temple  so  magnificent  that  for  a  generation  the 
report  was  current  that  the  lad  had  lost  his  wits.  Then,  thirty 
years  afterward,  an  old  guide  made  his  way  from  another  direc- 
tion into  what  is  now  called  the  Egyptian  Temple,  and  there,  side 
by  side,  found  the  missing  lamp  and  stick,  lying  near  the  splendid 
columns    of  the   temple. 

There  are  six  of  the  columns.  They  average  eighty  feet  in 
height  and  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  and  stand  in  a  semi-circle, 
flanked  by  pyramidal  towers.  The  material  is  gray  oolite,  fluted 
by  deep  furrows,  veneered  with  yellow  stalagmite,  rich  as  jasper, 
and  covered  by  tracery  as  elaborate  as  Chinese  carving. 


426  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

So,  all  around  us  there  are  glorious  possibilities — the  undiscov- 
ered, undeveloped  riches  6i  character,  which  need  only  Christ's 
grace  applied  to  human  hearts  by  earnest  soul-winners  to  bring 
them  to  light. 

An  Opportunity  Lost. 

General  Lew  Wallace,  writing  on  the  capture  of  Fort  Donel- 
son,  says,  "The  hero  of  the  morning,  General  Pellow,  made 
haste  to  blight  his  laurels.  His  vanity  whistled  itself  into  ludicrous 
exaltation.  Instead  of  following  the  enemy  with  energy,  he  sent 
a  telegram  to  say,  'The  day  is  ours.'  In  a  few  hours  an  officer 
rode  by  at  full  speed  shouting,  'All's  lost!  Save  yourselves!' 
And  the  victory  once  gained  had  been  wiped  from  the  slate." 

Left  Undone. 

On  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  my  brother  was  called  upon 
to  preach  at  the  evening  service.  He  took  as  his  theme  the  sins 
of  omission,  basing  his  sermon  on  these  words  of  Christ,  "Inas- 
much as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to 
me."  He  pointed  out  that  in  the  judgment  it  was  what  men  had 
failed  to  do,  which  they  could  have  done,  that  condemned  them 
at  the  last.  Men  are  ready  to  take  great  credit  to  themselves 
that  they  are  not  thieves,  or  covetous,  or  murderers,  but  overlook 
the  fact  that  the  Lord  calls  to  account  for  the  service  they  might 
have  rendered,  the  opportunities  they  wasted.  Men  will  be 
judged  not  alone  for  evil,  but  for  good  left  undone. 

Can  anything  be  more  searching  than  these  words  of  Jesus  to 
the  condemned,  "I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat ; 
I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no  drink;  I  was  a  stranger,  and 
ye  took  me  not  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not;  sick  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not?"  How  significant  is  his  reply 
to  their  questions,  "Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  or 
athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did 
not  minister  unto  thee?"  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch 
as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to 
me. 

What  more  he  said  I  cannot  tell,  but  this  I  know,  that  on 
two  men  the  effect  was  tremendous.  After  the  sermon  he 
went  on  deck,  that  he,  overheated  from  preaching,  might  walk 
to  and  fro  in  the  cool  breeze.  Out  of  the  darkness  came  a 
man,  who  said,  "Are  you  the  preacher  of  the  evening?"   "Yes!" 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  427 

was  the  reply.  "Who  told  you  about  me?"  he  asked.  "I  do 
not  know  you.  How  should  I  know  anything  about  you?" 
was  the  answer. 

Then  followed  a  confession  that  he  had  quarreled  with  his 
home  church,  omitted  his  duties,  but  he  declared  that  on  his 
return  home,  God  helping  him,  he  would  take  them  up.  Long 
after  my  brother  learned  he  had  kept  his  word  and  was  active 
and  aggressive.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that  he  was  a 
lawyer  of  ability. 

The  next  morning  a  German  spoke  to  my  brother,  frankly 
confessing  that,  though  confirmed  in  youth,  he  had  become  a 
skeptic,  but  saying  that  if  more  sermons  of  that  character 
were  preached  greater  good  would  be  done.  A  year  later  this 
same  man  entered  my  brother's  church  on  a  communion  Sun- 
day, and  when  the  communicants  went  to  the  altar,  he  humbly 
went  forward  and  knelt  with  them.  After  the  service  he  said 
that  he  could  never  shake  off  the  effect  of  the  words  he  heard, 
that  they  had  led  him  back  to  his  Savior,  that  he  had  purposely 
stopped  in  Philadelphia  to  tell  this  to  the  man  to  whom, 
under  God,  he  owed  his  salvation,  and  finding  them  celebrating 
the  communion  had  joyfully  joined  in  the  sacrament. 

May  we  not  learn  that  we,  too,  are  held  responsible  for  the 
services  we  might  render  and  do  not  render,  for  the  use  of 
opportunities  to  minister  that  come  to  us. — Augsburg  Teacher. 

Keep  Close  To  Christ. 

During  the  memorable  retreat  of  the  French  from  Moscow 
the  soldiers  froze  to  death  by  hundreds.  It  is  said  that  at 
night  they  gathered  together  such  combustible  material  as  they 
could  find  and  made  a  fire.  Then,  gathering  around  it  in 
circles  as  closely  as  possible,  they  lay  down  to  sleep.  In  the 
morning,  after  a  bitter  night,  those  in  the  outer  circles  would 
be  found  dead— frozen  to  death.  They  were  too  far  away 
from  the  source  of  heat.  So  the  Christian's  hope  of  life,  of 
strength,  of  help  in  the  warfare  of  life,  lies  in  constant  com- 
munion with  Christ  and  with  those  who  love  him.  To  be  on 
the  borders  of  worldliness  may  be,  and  often  is,  fatal. — Saturday 
Evening  Post. 


428  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

Turning  Trial  Into  Triumph. 

In  early  manhood  Rev.  Dr.  George  Matheson  was  engaged 
to  a  young  woman  of  culture,  social  position  and  physical 
charm.  Meanwhile  his  eyesight  began  to  fail  him.  He  con- 
sulted a  noted  oculist,  and  was  informed  that,  within  a  few 
months,  he  would  be  incurably  blind.  With  this  information 
he  went  to  the  young  lady  whom  he  dearly  loved,  and  whom 
he  had  hoped  soon  to  wed.  "Love  seeketh  not  its  own." 
Young  Matheson  left  to  the  lady  the  option  of  letting  their 
betrothal  blossom  into  wedlock  or  of  severing  their  engage- 
ment bonds.  She  promptly  decided,  and  plainly  announced 
that  she  did  not  care  to  be  tied,  throughout  their  mutual  life 
on  earth,  to  a  man  who  was  doomed  to  incurable  blindness. 

Staggering  from  the  blow  received,  soon  to  lose  his  sight, 
having  already  lost  a  presumptive  wife,  he  hastened  to  his 
room,  took  up  paper  and  pen  and  wrote  the  hymn  which  is 
reproduced  below.  Mrs.  Edgerton.  in  her  "Favorite  Hymns 
and  their  Authors,"  says,  "The  hymn  was  'the  fruit  of  the 
most  severe  mental  suffering'  endured  by  the  author,  and  was 
truly  an  inspiration,  the  whole  having  been  written  and  com- 
pleted in  about  five  minutes,  and  never  retouched  or  corrected 
by  the  author."  The  hymn  is  as  follows: 
"O  Love,  that  wilt  not  let  me  go, 

I   rest   my  weary   soul   in   thee; 
I  give  thee  back  the  life  I  owe. 
That  in  thine  ocean  depths  its  flow 
May  richer,  fuller  be. 

O  Light,  that  followest  all  my  way, 

I  yield  my  flick'ring  torch  to  thee; 
My  heart  restores  its  borrowed  ray. 
That  in  thy  sunshine's  blaze  its  day 
May  brighter,  fairer  be. 

0  Joy,  that  seekest  me  through  pain, 
I  cannot  close  my  heart  to  thee; 

1  trace  the  rainbow  through  the  rain, 
And  feel  the  promise  is  not  vain 

That  morn  shall  tearless  be. 


OPPORTUNITY!      RESPONSIBILITY!  429 

0  Cross,  that  liftest  up  my  head, 
I  dare  not  ask  to  fly  from  thee ; 

1  lay  in  dust  life's  glory  dead, 

And  from  the  ground  there  blossoms  red 
Life  that  shall  endless  be," — Christian  Work. 

Waiting  For  the  Vision. 
H.  Isabel  Graham  has  written  a  beautiful  story  in  the  form 
of  a  legend  of  a  monk  who  knelt  continually  in  his  cell  and 
prayed  to  be  fashioned  into  the  likeness  of  the  cross.  He  had 
made  a  vow  that  none  should  see  his  face  until  he  had  looked 
upon  the  face  of  Christ.  So  his  devotions  were  unbroken.  The 
birds  sang  by  his  cell  window  and  the  children  played  without, 
but  the  monk  heeded  not  either  the  children  or  the  birds — in 
the  absorption  of  his  soul  in  its  passion  for  the  Christ,  he  was 
oblivious  to  all  earthly  things.  One  morning  he  seemed  to 
hear  a  spirit-voice  saying  that  his  prayer  to  see  the  Blessed 
One  should  be  answered  that  day.  He  was  very  glad,  and 
made  special  preparation  for  the  coming  of  the  vision.  There 
was  a  gentle  knocking  at  his  door  by  and  by,  and  the  voice  of 
a  child  was  heard  pleading  to  be  fed  and  taken  in.  Her  feet 
were  cold,  her  clothing  was  thin.  But  the  monk  was  so  intent 
on  the  coming  of  the  vision  that  he  could  not  pause  to  minister 
to  any  human  needs.  Evening  drew  on,  the  place  became 
dreary,  the  tapers  burned  low.  Why  was  the  vision  so  long 
in  appearing?  Then  with  bitter  grief  he  heard  the  answer 
that  the  vision  had  already  come,  had  lingered  at  his  door,  and 
then,  unwelcomed,  had  sobbed  and  turned  away.  Jesus  had 
come  in  the  little  child,  cold  and  hungry,  had  knocked,  and 
called,  and  waited,  and  grieved,  had  gone.  The  monk  had 
been  expecting  some  shining  splendor,  like  the  burning  bush, 
or  the  transfiguration.  The  vision  had  come  as  a  little  child 
in  need,  seeking  help,  and  he  had  not  recognized  it,  and  had 
refused  to  receive  it. — Westminster  Teacher, 


SERVICE  SEVENTEEN— Sunday  Afternoon 

Manhood  for  Christ 
(Men's  Platform  Meeting) 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XVII 

The  First  Psalm. 

The  Prodigal  Son. 

Fcclesiasfes  Twelve. 

Daniel  i:8-i6. 

Daniel  3:8-^0 

Daniel  5:1-9,  17-31. 

Daniel  6:1-28. 

I  have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are 
strong,  and  the  word  of  God  abideth  in  you,  and  ye 
have  overcome  the  wicked  one. — i  John  2:14. 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

The  First  Psalm. 

1.  The  blessed  life;  God's  blue-print  of  the  ideal  lifr. 

2.  What  it  shuns;   evil  associations;  "the  ungodly." 
6.     What  it  chooses ;  fellowship  with  Christ. 

4.     The    glorious    outcome;    a    flourishing    and    fruitful 
tree. 

The  Prodigal  Son. 

1.  Squandered  resources;  "spent  his  substance." 

2.  The  inevitable  penalty ;  a  starving  swineherd. 

3.  Regret,  repentance,  return. 

4.  Pardon  and  restoration  to  privilege. 

Ecclesiastes  12. 

1.  Evil  days  are  coming;  decrepitude;  the  loss  of  the 

power  of  enjoying  earthly  pleasure. 

2.  Spiritual  joys  the  only  resource  then. 

3.  Prepare  for  that  time  by  earthly  alliance  with  Christ 

Daniel  1:8-16. 

1.  A   righteous   purpose;   "purposed    in   his   heart   that 

he  would  not  defile  himself." 

2.  Nobly  adhered  to  in  the  face  of  temptation,     (v.   10.) 

3.  A  God-blessed  life. 

Daniel  3:8-30. 

1.  Splendid   fidelity   to   principle;   "they   serve   not   thy 

gods." 

2.  The  calm  confidence  of  faith;  "our  God  is  able  to 

deliver." 

3.  The  sustaining  grace  of  a  present  Christ;  "the  Son 

of  God." 

4.  The    influence    of    courageous    example;    "no    other 

God." 

Daniel  5:1-9;  17-31. 

1     Shutting   God   out   of   the   life    (Belshazzar). 

2.  Giving  way  to  pride  and  passion ;  a  great  feast. 

3.  Weighed  in  God's  balance    (v.  27). 

4.  The  ending  of  the  day  of  grace ;  "in  that  night  slain.' 


434  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Daniel  6:1-28. 

1.  The  cost  of  fidelity  to  Christ  (v.  10). 

2.  The  demand  for  Christian  courage  (v.  16). 

3.  "A  very  present  help   in   trouble"    (vs.  21,  22). 

4.  The  influence  of  courageous  faith. 

1  have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are  strong, 
and  the  word  of  God  abideth  in  you,  and  ye  have  overcome  the 
wicked  one. — 1  John  2:14. 

1.  The  strength  of  Christian  manhood. 

2.  Is  the  result  of  successful  struggle. 

3.  A  young  man's  influence  and  opportunity. 


SUGGESTIONS 

If  possible,  have  a  male  quartette.  Use  "men's  hymns;" 
"Onward  Christian  Soldiers;"  "The  Son  of  Man  goes  forth  to 
war,  etc ;"  hymns  of  action,  courage,  challenge. 

If  you  can  secure  a  well-qualified  Christian  layman,  whose 
influence  for  good  in  the  community  is  strong,  have  him  give 
the  address,  keeping  to  the  topic  of  this  service,  and  in  line 
with  the  two  weeks'  meetings  preceding. 

Limit  the  service  to  an  hour,  and  if  in  accordance  with  your 
custom,  or  you  think  best,  during  the  concluding  prayer  or 
hymn,  call  for  decisions  for  Christ. 

Oifer  to  meet  any  interested  after  the  service. 

If  you  have  no  mens  organization  this  would  be  a  good 
time  to  call  a  general  meeting  for  the  following  Sunday  after- 
noon for  the  purpose  of  definite  organization.  A  men's  broth- 
erhood will  prove  of  incalculable  service  in  the  work  of  your 
congregation. 

I  want  to  tell  how  one  bright  young  dominie  of  New  York 
City  solved  the  problem  of  reaching  and  holding  men,  and  set 
an  example  that  a  round  dozen  of  the  city  churches  have 
already  followed.  This  is  one  of  the  few  things  I  know  all 
about,  as  I  was  one  of  the  victims  upon  whom  he  operated. 

After  long  consultation  with  himself  he  asked  a  dozen  of  the 
best  business  and  professional  men  of  his  church  to  meet  him 
in  a  personal  way  at  his  study  on  a  given  evening.  They 
came,  and  after  he  had  closed  the  door  and  placed  himself 
between  it  and  his  visitors  he  outlined  his  purpose,  and  pro- 
posed a  men's  church  club.  Not  a  religious  afifair,  but  one  of 
a  social  and  literary  character  that  would  make  the  men  of 
the  congregation  acquainted  with  each  other. 

He  did  not  give  his  hearers  time  to  object.  He  did  not  let 
them  roam  all  over  the  field  of  moral  and  social  endeavor,  and 
spend  a  month  or  so  in  organization.    He  had  his  scheme  fixed 


436  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

up.  He  said,  "As  you  have  all  agreed  that  it -would  be  a  good 
thing,  and  will  help  it  along,  suppose  you  commence  now. 
Mr.   Blank,  will  you   take  the  chair?" 

"Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  nominate  the  following  officers,  into 
whose  hands  this  whole  matter  shall  be  committed." 

That  interested  young  parson  then  handed  in  a  resolution 
which  banded  those  present  into  a  club,  and  with  it  the  names 
of  a  president,  vice  president,  secretary,  treasurer  and  fifteen 
governors.  Thus  every  man  present  found  himself  an  official, 
with  several  places  assigned  to  others  who  were  not  there. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  adopted.  Then  one  doubting 
Thomas — there  will  always  be  at  least  one  of  these  in  any 
dozen  men,  even  on  a  jury — said,  dubiously,  "We're  all  right 
so  far.  We  have  plenty  of  officers,  but  where  are  our  mem- 
bers?" 

But  that  minister  was  ready  for  him.  He  outlined  his 
scheme,  and  it  was  carried  out  with  success. 

A  dinner  to  all  the  men  of  the  congregation  was  announced. 
It  was  advertised  from  the  pulpit  and  talked  about  in  the  pews. 
It  was  not  to  be  an  ice  cream  and  frosted  cake  affair,  but  a 
genuine  banquet,  spread  in  the  parish  house,  a  list  of  toasts  to 
be  responded  to  by  prominent  men  in  the  congregation,  whose 
oratorical  powers  had  heretofore  been  unknown. 

Did  they  come?  About  300  did.  The  affair  opened  with  a 
bang,  and  ended  with  a  hurrah. 

At  that  point  of  the  evening  when  everyone  was  happy,  slips 
were  handed  around,  and  before  the  exercises  were  over  that 
club  had  a  membership  of  200  or  more. 

That  was  some  years  ago.  The  club  is  alive  and  flourishing 
today.  I  will  briefly  relate  some  of  the  things  that  have  kept 
it  alive,  so  that  those  to  whom  this  is  addressed  can  profit  by 
its  example. 

All  details  of  government  are  left  in  the  hands  of  the  gov- 
ernors. That  simplifies  matters.  The  fees  are  $2  per  year, 
which  includes  a  ticket  to  the  annual  dinner,  which  is  always 
given  on  the  resumption  of  work  in  November.  If  there  is  a 
deficit,  the  governors  quietly  make  it  up  among  themselves. 
Meetings  are  held  on  the  first  Monday  evenings  of  the  months 


MANHOOD  FOR   CHRIST  437 

of  November,  December,  January,  February,  March  and  April. 
The  April  meeting  sees  the  installation  of  the  new  officers,  and 
is  also  a  reception  to  the  ladies,  and  they  all  come. 

The  entertainments  at  the  monthly  meetings  are  varied. 
One  night  was  given  to  the  telling  of  stories.  A  dozen  men 
were  designated  in  advance,  each  of  whom  should  tell  the  best 
story  he  ever  heard.  There  was  a  phonographic  evening. 
There  was  a  very  funny  moot  court.  One  night  the  boys  of 
the  club  gave  a  burlesque  on  a  district  school.  A  couple  of 
army  officers  spoke  one  evening.  The  president  of  the  clear- 
ing house  showed  how  money  is  handled  in  New  York.  Dr. 
Vandewater  gave  his  experiences  as  a  chaplain  in  the  Spanish 
war.  The  presidents  of  the  police  and  fire  boards  talked  on 
heroism  in  those  departments.  Charles  Nelan,  the  cartoonist, 
gave  a  chalk  talk.  At  the  close  of  each  entertainment  a  table 
filled  with  refreshments  is  exposed  to  view,  and  each  man 
helps  himself  to  cofifee,  sandwiches,  doughnuts,  cheese,  pickles, 
etc., — it  is  surprising  how  far  a  couple  of  dollars  will  go. 

Now  here  comes  in  the  one  novel  feature  that  has  kept  the 
club  alive  and  made  it  a  success. 

At  the  annual  dinner  of  each  year  the  president  reads  off  a 
list  of  five  special  committees  on  entertainments,  of  three 
members  each. 

Each  of  the  committees  has  charge  of  the  meeting  for  a 
specified  month.  It  is  their  duty  to  provide  the  program  for 
that  one  evening,  and  you  can  be  certain  that  no  committee 
cares  to  be  outdone  by  the  rest.  The  result  is  that  the  enter- 
tainment is  first-class,  and  at  the  same  time  the  work  is 
divided.  There  is  always  something  new;  and  it  takes  a  mighty 
poor  man  who  cannot  get  up  enthusiasm  enough  to  do  good 
work  for  at  least  one  evening  in  the  year. — Plain  Dealer. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

I  read  in  a  circular  letter  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  that  after 
careful  investigation  they  find  that  "less  than  one-tenth  of  the 
young  men  of  this  city  are  in  churches  and  Sunday  schools." 
If  this  is  true,  it  is  a  tremendous  fact  and  shows  a  pestilential 
fault  somewhere.  It  would  have  been  a  startling  announce- 
ment to  General  Sherman,  about  the  time  he  was  attacking 
Atlanta,  that  less  than  one-tenth  of  his  army  believed  in  the 
Union  cause.  It  would  disturb  the  public  confidence  to  hear 
that  nine  out  of  every  ten  clerks  were  incredulous  as  to  the 
policy  of  honesty.  It  would  hardly  do  much  good  in  either 
case  to  add  that  the  mothers,  and  wives,  and  sisters  of  these 
men  were  all  true  to  the  Union  and  to  fidelity  in  financial 
dealings.  "I  write  unto  you,"  said  St.  John — not  to  your 
mothers  or  sisters.  There  is  no  safety  here  in  proxy-religion, 
no  very  cheerful  outlook  in  churches  where  the  piety  is  mostly 
feminine. 

I  quote  again  from  the  circular  to  show  how  the  world 
stands  on  its  evil  side  to  attract  the  young.  It  says,  "There 
are  in  this  city  2,567  licensed  liquor  saloons,  14  theaters,  491 
licensed  billiard  and  pool  tables,  40  bowling-alleys,  and  10 
shooting-galleries — about  3,100  in  all — besides  hundreds  of 
other  places  where  gambling  or  other  vices  are  indulged  in." 
"The  vast  majority  of  their  patrons  are  young  men."  Now 
I  am  not  lumping  together  these  places  as  all  alike  evil  and 
debasing,  but  only  in  contrast  to  the  other  figures.  Certainly 
these  3,100  and  more  places  have  as  patrons  "less  than  one- 
tenth  of  the  young  women  of  the  city,"  and  only  a  decaying 
and  frouzy  fraction  of  elderly  men — so,  they  must  be  sup- 
ported by  the  pleasant  vices  of  young  men.  The  circular  does 
not  go  into  the  darker  chambers  of  vice,  which  lead  down  to 
the  dead,  and  I  only  hint  at  them  in  passing.  Surely  the  lust 
of  the  flesh  and  the  lust  of  the  eye,  that  make  up  two-thirds  of 
the  temptation  of  the  world  to  you,  are  emphasized  sufficiently 
as  existing  facts. — C.  H.  Hill,  D.  D. 


MANHOOD  FOR  CHRIST  439 

"Seek  ye  first  *  *  *  righteousness,"  said  Christ,  and  here  comes 
the  gist  of  the  whole  matter.  If  a  man  says  that  he  believes 
in  Jesus  Christ,  he  means  that  he  not  only  believes  in  Christ's 
death  but  in  Christ's  life — that  he  believes  that  his  own  life 
should  be  a  healing,  helpful,  pure,  and  righteous  one,  after  the 
pattern  of  that  led  by  Christ.  And  it  seems  to  me  it  is  here 
where  seekers  so  often  go  wrong.  Men  want  to  be  saved  from 
hell,  but  they  don't  want  to  be  saved  from  sin.  Like  Balaam, 
they  want  to  die  the  death  of  the  righteous  and  to  live  the 
life  of  the  wicked.  Sentimental  desires  about  heaven  will 
never  get  a  man  into  it.  It  is  as  if  an  engineer,  desiring  to 
erect  a  fort,  should  go  to  the  selected  site  and  think  to  himself 
that  a  bastion  should  be  prepared  here,  and  a  rampart  there, 
and  a  ditch  in  another  place,  but  until  the  pickaxe  and  the 
spade  are  put  to  work,  no  fort  will  arise,  however  much  he  may- 
dream. 

Is  it  not  even  thus  many  of  us  are  acting  today?  We  would 
like  an  ark  of  safety,  a  refuge  for  our  souls ;  but  we  have  neevr 
tried  to  pull  up  a  single  weed  of  bad  habit,  or  endeavored  to 
cut  down  the  undergrowth  which  lumbers  the  ground.  We 
have  never  earnestly  striven  to  surrender  our  besetting  sin,  we 
don't  in  our  heart  of  hearts  desire  to  be  delivered  from  it. 
How  can  God  save  a  man  if  he  takes  this  position?  The 
apostle  James  tells  us,  "Let  not  such  a  man  think  that  he  shall 
receive  anything  of  the  Lord." 

The  end  and  aim  of  all  religion  is  to  save  a  man  from 
unrighteousness  and  to  make  him  righteous,  to  save  a  man 
from  sin  and  to  make  him  pure,  to  turn  a  man  from  an  evil 
doer  into  a  doer  of  good. — Quinton  Hogg,  in  Men. 

Be  sure  that  every  one  of  you  has  his  place  and  \»ocation 
on  earth,  and  that  it  rests  with  you  to  find  it.  Do  not  believe 
those  who  too  lightly  say,  "nothing  succeeds  like  success." 
Effort — honest,  manful,  humble  effort,  succeeds  by  its  reflected 
action,  especially  in  youth,  better  than  success,  which,  indeed, 
too  easily  and  too  early  gained,  not  seldom  serves,  like  win- 
ning the  first  throw  of  the  dice,  to  blind  and  stupefy.  Get 
knowledge,  all  you  can.    Be  thorough  in  all  you  do  and  remera- 


440  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

ber,  though  ignorance  often  may  be  innocent,  pretension  is 
always  despicable.  Quit  y©u  like  men,  be  strong  and  exercise 
your  strength.  Work  onward  and  upward;  and  may  the  bless- 
ings of  the  jMost  High  soothe  your  cares,  clear  your  vision, 
and  crown  your  labors  with  reward." — Gladstone. 

More    and    more    the    world-battles    of    the    future    will    be 
fought    with    spiritual    weapons.      Spiritual    ideals    and    moral 
principles  are  taking  the  place  of  physical  weapons.     In  spite 
of  standing  armies  and  powerful  navies,  civilization  is  asking 
— must  ask,  if  it  really  is  civilization — What  is  right?    And  in 
the  end  righteousness  w'ill  and  must  prevail.     This  is  the  code 
of  the  disciple  of  Christ;  this  is  his  working  principle.     Even 
if  he  turns  to  a  physical  weapon  it  is  only  that  he  may  make 
it  the  easier  for  the  spiritual  ideal  to  win  its  way.     The  young 
men   of  the   future   will    more    and    more    find    this    ideal    and 
realize   it.     Honesty   in   business,    integrity   in    politics,   purity 
and  truthfulness  in  all  social  life  must  be  not  only  their  cardinal 
principles,  but  the  actual  weapons  with  which  they  shall  win 
the  great  world-battle  under  the  banner  of  Christ,  the  eternal 
Master  and  King.     This,  to  the  young  man  whose  life  is  con- 
secrated to  the  service  of  our  Lord,  is  no  mere  sentiment,  but 
rather   it  furnishes   the   practical,   every-day   principle   for   life 
and   conduct.     To   make   the   righteousness   of   God   prevail   in 
all    life   and   to   win   others   to    this    standard    is   his    mission. 
In  business,  in  politics,  in  society,  everywhere,  does  his  oppor- 
tunity exist ;  and  the  law  of  Christ  knows  no  compromise,  no 
halfway  measure,  no  retrograde  movement. — William  F.  Slocuni. 
The  ordinary  layman  is  shy  of  being  called  "spiritual."     He 
/wants  to  be  called  "practical,"  and  the  other  term  he  regards 
as  a  direct  contradictory.  Spirituality  suggests  a  weird  unearth- 
liness — a    monkish    and    mystical    pietism.      He    is    far    readier 
therefore  to  load  himself  with  the  concrete  temporal  interests 
of  the  church  than  to  take  any  part  in  its  ministry  to  the  inner 
nature. 

The  church  will  never  get  its  full  quota  of  power  out  of  its 
men  members  until  it  convinces  them  that  spirituality  is  not 
an  uncanny  distortion  or  abatement  of  manliness;  that  it  does 
not  take  men  out  of  the  world  but  only  gives  them  a  larger 


MANHOOD   FOR   CHRIST  441 

life  in  a  completer  universe.  A  brotherhood  has  no  higher 
mission  than  to  make  men  feel  it  worth  while  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  nearer  personal  friendship  of  God.  Here  the 
prayer  unions  can  help. — The  Interior. 

There  is  a  general  impression  that  women  are  more  religious 
than  men.  It  is  not  true.  They  are  more  impressionable,  and 
yield  easily  to  certain  impassioned  appeals.  They  are  oftener 
called,  by  the  conditions  of  the  sex,  to  face  the  danger  of 
death.  They  are  more  anxious  for  things  "lovely  and  of  good 
report,"  by  their  instincts  of  home-life.  But  these  things  are 
only  adjuncts  of  religion.  There  are  other  things  in  it,  where 
the  masculine  mind  is  essential.  Who  would  leave  any  vast 
power  of  life  in  the  community  to  either  sex — to  the  female 
sex  only?  The  whole  history  of  the  religions  of  the  entire 
world  demonstrates  that  no  religion  can  continue  on  any  such 
half-way  arrangement.  It  is  false  in  fact.  The  women  will, 
by  their  sympathies  and  necessities,  follow  on  with  the  men. 
No  young  man  starts  for  Coney  Island  of  a  bright  Sunday  in 
the  "leafy  month  of  June,"  that  he  can  not  find  one  of  the 
sympathetic  sex  who  discovers  that  she  is  in  need  of  sea-air. 
He  has  been  shut  up  in  a  close  office  all  the  week,  and  may 
need  a  change.  She  has  been  free  all  the  week,  but  can  find 
an  excuse  for  turning  her  back  on  her  church,  with  a  little  per- 
suasion. Good  women  will  not  hold  out  in  being  more  relig- 
ious than  the  men.  Surely  it  is  a  feeble  timber  on  which  to 
build  a  hope  of  church  life  for  any  long  time. — Tfte  Homiletic 
Review. 

Convictions  on  moral  and  religious  questions  are  born  of 
earnest  and  serious  thought,  and  a  man  without  convictions 
is  a  man  without  force.  Many  people  are  intellectually  value- 
less simply  because  they  will  not  think  and  prepare  themselves 
to  think  by  careful  examination  of  religious  and  moral  prob- 
lems. The  young  man  of  the  future  as  well  as  of  the  present 
must  be  able  to  think  out  for  himself  his  position  on  all  moral 
questions.  His  actions  will  be  regulated  by  his  convictions, 
and  his  convictions  will  come  by  clear  and  vigorous  thinking. 
The  battle  of  the  future  is  one  of  ideas,  and  its  victories  will 
be  won  by  those   who   are   able   to  put   ideas   into   action   by 


442  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

means  of  noble  lives.  Facilities  for  intellectual  preparation  for 
one's  life-work  are  not  mei;;ely  a  good  thing;  they  are  essen- 
tial if  our  young  men  are  to  achieve  as  they  bring  things  to 
pass  in  the  days  that  are  to  come.  The  day  will  come,  for 
many,  at  least,  when  it  will  be  recognized  that  it  is  a  crime 
for  a  man  to  hold  false  or  weak  views  on  important  questions, 
and  that  a  person  is  simply  doing  his  duty  when  he  prepares 
to  form  and  hold  right  convictions  in  regard  to  the  work  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ. — Men. 

Your  After-man,  have  you  ever  thought  of  him;  the  sort  of 
creature  you  will  be  ten  years,  twenty  years,  or  even  thirty 
years  from  now?  His  destiny  is  in  your  hands,  in  your  keep- 
ing. You  can,  by  your  actions,  either  make  his  life  happy  or 
miserable.  It  is  on  you  alone  he  depends,  and  he  has  to 
depend  without  a  chance  to  plead  his  case.  Yet,  although 
mute,  he  is  there,  and  the  actions  w^hich  you  perform  today 
not  only  affect  your  life,  but  affect  his. 

What  sort  of  a  brain  and  body  are  you  going  to  leave  for 
his  inheritance,  to  that  dim,  shadowy  person  whose  life  will  be 
in  the  future?  Will  it  be  a  body  strong  and  active,  a  mind 
sharp  and  acute,  a  nervous  system  that  is  in  normal  order;  or 
will  he  have  to  do  with  a  sickly  body,  a  feeble  brain,  because 
you  forgot  him,  because  you  thought  you  lived  only  in  the 
present,  thought  that  your  actions  would  live  and  have 
influence  only  in  the  present? 

His  condition  depends  upon  you.  If  you  want  a  good  invest- 
ment, invest  in  your  After-man.  Act  today,  so  that  twenty 
years  from  now,  with  a  strong  body,  and  trained  mind,  your 
After-man  can  step  in  and  continue  your  work.  To  do  this 
only  a  little  care,  a  little  forethought,  a  little  restraint  is  nec- 
essary. 

In  the  first  place,  evil  habits  should  be  shunned,  for  if  you 
begin  them  you  plant  the  seeds  that  will  grow  and  mature  in 
after  years.  Then  the  best  use  should  be  made  of  the  present 
in  training  body  and  mind  along  useful  lines,  so  that  in  years 
to  come  you  will  not  be  handicapped  by  lack  of  knowledge- 
It  will  pay,  there  is  no  doubt,  pay  ten-fold.     Indeed,  you  will 


MANHOOD  FOR   CHRIST  443 

never  be  sadder  than  if,  twenty  years  from  now,  your  After- 
man,  broken  in  body  and  mind,  has  occasion  to  exclaim : 

"The  thorns  which  I  have  reaped  are  of  the  tree  I  planted; 
they  have  torn  me  and  I  have  bled." — Egbert  Wallace,  in  The 
Congregationalist. 

The  atheism  in  business  is  perhaps  the  most  deadly  assault 
against  Christianity  in  our  day,  for  it  establishes  selfishness 
as  the  supreme  motive  of  work  and,  selfishness  of  anti-Christ. 

You  will  find  men  belonging  to  societies  holding  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  supreme  Lord,  who  practically  refuse  to  allow 
any  interference  with  them  or  with  their  schemes  for  six  days 
in  the  week.  On  the  seventh  day  they  enter  his  house  to  listen 
to  his  instruction,  and  to  pray  for  his  blessing,  begging  in 
every  prayer  "to  enter  heaven  at  last,"  without  any  notion, 
apparently,  that  their  way  to  heaven  lies  through  the  work 
and  experience  of  the  coming  six  days.  Christ  to  them  is  the 
king  of  Sunday.  They  refer  to  him  all  Sunday  questions,  that 
is,  questions  of  religious  belief,  questions  of  religious  expe- 
rience, and  such  conduct  as  involves  principally  questions  of 
morals.  But  how  small  a  part  of  life  do  such  questions  take 
up  for  most  of  us?  May  we  not,  without  extravagance,  say 
of  the  ordinary  citizen  that,  except  when  some  heresy  is  noised 
abroad,  he  lives  in  ignorance  of  his  creed?  His  religious  expe- 
rience comes  nearer  to  him,  doubtless,  but  I  suppose  few  per- 
sons— too  few,  alas! — refer  to  their  religious  experience  in 
settling  practical  questions  of  business.  And  while  I  would 
not  intimate  that  the  majority  of  respectable  people  ignore 
moral  principles  in  business,  yet  it  will  be  granted  that  the 
most  prevalent  and  potent  of  these  principles  arc  negative,  like 
that  of  honesty,  and  these  the  majority  of  respectable  people 
do  not  need.  They  do  not  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  Ten 
Commandments  to  make  them  deal  fairly. 

Now,  when  you  have  taken  out  of  the  aggregate  of  life 
simply  these  three — questions  of  religious  belief,  of  religious 
experience  and  of  conduct  chiefly  moral — have  you  not  left 
vastly  more,  as  men  count,  than  you  have  taken?  Have  you 
not  left  six  days  in  the  week?  Have  you  not  left  that  whole 
range   of   activities   and    interests   called    the   business   of   life, 


444  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

with  its  immediate  and  imperative  stress  upon  us  day  by  day? 
Have  you  not,  in  fact,  taken  out  just  what  you  suppose  God 
can  be  appeased  with,  and  left  everything  that  you  really  want 
until  you   die? 

That  is  what  I  mean  by  saying  that  men  are  atheists  in 
business  and  that  they  make  selfishness  the  supreme  motive  of 
work.  So  far  from  this  being  regarded  extravagant,  I  fear  it 
will  strike  most  persons  as  a  truism.  Men  look  for  this  sort 
of  thing  in  business,  and  although  they  might  object  to  calling 
it  selfishness,  yet  that  a  man  has  a  right  to  select  what  busi- 
ness he  pleases  and  conduct  it  as  he  pleases  so  long  as  he 
violates  no  moral  law — this  is  supposed  to  be  conceded  by  all. 
But  it  is  not  conceded  by  Jesus  Christ.  Consider,  I  beg  you, 
how  grotesque  this  view  of  life  becomes  the  moment  we  hold 
it  up  to  the  cross !  In  the  light  of  that  awful  splendor,  how 
dare  we  talk  of  doing  what  we  please  or  as  we  please? — T.  H. 
Lewis. 

We  are  encircled  by  temptation,  because  we  are  placed  in  a 
world  where  evil  abounds. 

You  are  tempted — I  am  tempted — we  are  all  tempted ;  not 
all  to  the  same  extent,  or  in  the  same  way.  We  have  each  our 
own  special  susceptibilities,  our  distinctive  temptations — what 
is  a  temptation  to  one  may  be  no  temptation  to  another.  But 
throughout  life — from  the  commencement  to  the  close' — the 
tempter  continually  confronts  us,  and  with  seductive  subtlety 
seeks  to  allure  us  from  the  path  of  virtue.  He  knows  where 
our  character  is  the  weakest,  and  that  is  the  point  around 
which  he  concentrates  his  forces.  What  need  have  we,  there- 
fore, to  be  on  the  alert,  and  listen  to  our  divine  Master,  who, 
knowing  the  conditions  of  our  life,  and  with  his  penetrating 
insight  into  human  character,  speaks  to  each  one  of  us  in  tke 
words  of  our  motto  text,  and  says,  "Watch  and  pray,  that  ye 
enter  not  into  temptation." 

Robert  McCheyne,  than  whom  few  have  lived  a  more  con- 
secrated life,  on  being  asked  what  was  his  secret  power  over 
sin,  replied,  "Prayerful  watchfulness ;"  and  the  testimony  of 
multitudes,  if  asked,  would  be  the  same.  Prayerful  watchful- 
ness is  an  absolute  condition  of  personal  spiritual  growth  and 


MANHOOD  FOR  CHRIST  445 

effective  successful  service.  It  is  the  path  of  safety — the  way 
to  victory.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "watchfulness  without 
prayerfulness  is  presumption,  and  prayerfulness  without  watch- 
fulness is  hypocrisy."  So  it  is.  To  pray  to  be  kept  from  evil, 
and  then  to  read  a  suggestive  novel — or  to  open  the  ears  to 
impure  conversation — or  to  associate  with  companions  of  ques- 
tionable character — or  to  put  ourselves  into  favorable  position 
with  "the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,"  is  the  most 
aggravated  form  of  inconsistency  it  is  possible  to  image.  It  is 
like  asking  God  to  preserve  us  from  fire,  and  then  deliberately 
to  put  our  hand  into  the  flame. 

May  God  save  us  from  such  dishonoring  hypocrisy !  To 
begin  the  day  with  prayer,  and  then  carelessly  to  fulfill  its 
engagements  without  exercising  self-management,  self-control, 
and  self-government,  and  then  at  its  close  to  ask  God  to  for- 
give all  our  blunders  and  our  sins,  may  be  a  comfortable,  easy- 
going religion,  but  it  is  not  the  religion  of  Christ.  No.  The 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  involves  conflict  and  struggle.  It  is  a 
warfare.  We  have  to  engage  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight  against 
the  powers  of  evil.  I  appeal  to  your  experience — is  it  not  so? 
God  has  given  us  the  priceless  privilege  of  prayer,  by  which 
we  may  obtain  from  him  the  strength  necessary  to  overcome 
the  strongest  temptation ;  but  thus  fortified,  we  must  be  con- 
tinuall}''  on  the  watch,  so  that  the  hour  of  temptation  may  be 
the  time  of  victory.  It  is  temptation  boldly  met,  heroically 
fought,  and  courageously  overcome  in  the  strength  of  Christ, 
that  will  develop  in  our  character  those  moral  and  spiritual 
excellencies  which  compose  the  highest  type  of  Christian  man- 
hood. 

What  has  been  our  attitude  toward  temptation  during  the 
year  that  has  just  gone?  Have  we  resisted,  or  have  we  fallen? 
What  is  the  record  of  the  year  as  regards  our  personal  history? 
Let  us  press  home  to  ourselves  this  solemn  inquiry.  We  do 
well  to  remember  that  when  we  fall  under  temptation,  in  the 
fall  we  lose  something  of  will  and  character-forming  power 
which  cannot  be  recovered — one  fall  makes  its  repetition  all 
the  easier,  just  as  the  resistance  of  evil  makes  evil  the  more 
easily  resisted. — Sir  George  Williams. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"I  Need  Life  First." 

"If  I  could  resist  the  devil  and  his  temptations,  and  take  a 
decided  stand  as  a  Christian  among  my  companions  and  fel- 
low-workmen, I  think  it  would  be  better  with  me.  I  could  be 
a  true  Christian  then  as  well  as  others,  and  I  believe  I  would 
soon  be  saved  and  have  the  assurance." 

So  the  young  man  said,  and  no  doubt  he  sincerely  meant  it. 
He  had  been  urged  again  and  again  to  "take  his  stand"  as  a 
believer,  and  he  had  attempted  it  many  a  time,  and  as  often 
had  he  been  defeated.  His  only  idea  of  conversion  to  God 
seemed  to  be  "taking  a  stand  for  Christ,"  "showing  his  colors," 
and  the  like. 

Sitting  down  beside  him  I  whispered  in  his  ear,  "But  have 
you  been  converted,  dear  friend?  Have  you  got  spiritual  life 
in  your  soul?  It  is  deeply  important  that  you  should  first  be 
clear  on  that."  To  this  there  was  no  response.  The  query 
seemed  beyond  the  circle  of  his  thoughts ;  so  I  went  on  to 
say,  "You  know  that  the  first  thing  you  need  is  life,  and  there 
can  be  no  'taking  a  stand,'  and  no  'resisting'  of  temptation  till 
then.  You  must  go  down  the  stream  carried,  like  a  dead  fish, 
with  the  current,  unless  you  have  life.  You  know  a  living 
fish  can  go  against  the  stream,  but  a  dead  one  cannot;  neither 
can  you  resist  temptation  until  you  have  got  spiritual  life." 

"That's  just  where  I'm  wrong,"  said  the  youth ;  "I  never 
thought  of  that  before.  I  need  life  first.  I  can  do  nothing  till 
I  get  life.     And  that's  where  I've  missed  the  mark." 

And  others  have  missed  the  mark  there  too.  The  sinner 
needs  life  before  he  can  stand  or  walk  or  work.  He  cannot 
live  the  Christian  life  if  he  has  not  got  it;  the  life  must  be  in 
him  before  it  can  manifest  itself. 

Reader,  have  you  got  life?  "He  that  hath  the  Son  hath 
life."  "The  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord'^     (Rom.  6:23.)     "Whosoever  will,"  may  have  it. 


•''^■'  MANHOOD  FOR  CHRIST  447 

By  Taking  Heea  Thereto  According  to  Thy  Word. 
Green,  in  his  History  of  the  English  People,  gives  a  marvel- 
ous testimony  to  the  effect  of  the  Bible  in  Elizabeth's  reign. 
No  greater  moral  change  ever  passed  over  a  nation  than 
passed  over  England  during  the  years  which  parted  the  middle 
of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  from  the  meeting  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment. England  became  the  people  of  a  book,  and  that  book 
vk^as  the  Bible.  Its  literary  and  social  effects  v^ere  great,  but 
far  greater  was  the  effect  of  the  Bible  on  the  character  of  the 
people  at  large.  One  dominant  influence  told  on  human 
action.  The  whole  temper  of  the  nation  felt  the  change.  A 
new  conception  of  life,  a  new  moral  and  religious  impulse, 
spread  through  every  class. — Epworth  Herald. 

Christ  Wants  Strong,  Brave  Men. 

Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give  my  hand 
and  my  heart  to  this  vote!  Sir,  before  God  I  believe  the  hour 
is  come.  My  judgment  approves  this  measure,  and  my  whole 
heart  is  in  it.  All  that  I  have,  and  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that 
I  hope  in  this  life,  I  am  now  ready  to  stake  upon  it;  and  I 
leave  off  as  I  began,  that,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  am 
for  the  declaration.  It  is  my  living  sentiment,  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  it  shall  be  my  dying  sentiment : — Independ- 
ence now,  and  independence  forever. — Danid  Webster. 
Christian  Courage. 

Early  Christian  history  records  the  scene  in  which  a  wealthy 
widowed  mother,  Felicitas,  and  her  seven  sons  were  sum- 
moned before  Publius,  and  were  commanded,  under  penalty  of 
death,  to  renounce  the  name  of  Christ.  Her  eldest  son  was 
whipped  with  thongs  until  life  was  nearly  gone.  "Renounce 
the  name  and  live,"  said  the  officer,  when  the  aged  mother 
bade  her  son  stand  fast  and  live  in  glory.  Under  the  furious 
blows  of  the  whip  he  sank  into  death.  In  her  tortured  pres- 
ence her  next  two  sons  were  beaten  with  clubs,  while  her  voice 
bade  them  remember  him  who  died  for  them  rather  than  yield 
to  brutish  command.  The  fourth  was  taken  from  her  embrace 
and  flung  from  the  rock  near  which  they  stood.  The  other 
three,  one  by  one,  were  beheaded,  while  to  each  her  words  of 
courage  were  true  to  her  faith.    This  was  more  than  courage; 


448  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

it  was  comfort.  It  was  a  strengthening  and  inspiring  to  duty; 
urging  a  heroism  she  herself  at  last  exempHfied,  in  bearing  her 
own  torture  until  her  own  head  fell  under  the  blow  of  the 
knife. 

The  Higher  Gain. 

In  his  plea  for  Captain  John  Brown,  Thoreau  makes  a  vig- 
orous onset  on  the  criticisms  levelled  by  some  of  his  country- 
men against  the  hero  of  the  slave  movement. 

"I  hear  another  ask  Yankee-like,  'What  will  he  gain  by  it?' 
as  if  he  expected  to  fill  his  pockets  by  this  enterprise.  Such 
an  one  has  no  idea  of  gain,  but  in  this  worldly  sense.  If  it 
does  not  lead  to  a  'surprise'  party,  if  he  does  not  get  a  new 
pair  of  boots,  or  a  vote  of  thanks,  it  must  be  a  failure.  'But 
he  won't  gain  anything  by  it?'  Well,  no,  I  don't  suppose  he 
could  get  four-and-sixpence  a  day  for  being  hung,  take  the  year 
round ;  but  then  he  stands  a  chance  to  save  a  considerable  part 
of  his  soul — and  such  a  soul  !• — when  you  do  not.  No  doubt 
you  can  get  more  in  your  market  for  a  quart  of  milk  than  for 
a  quart  of  blood;  but  that  is  not  the  market  that  heroes  carry 
their  blood  to." 

God's  Heroes. 

Sir  Charles  Elliot,  governor  of  Bengal,  India,  tells  this  story, 
which  emphasizes  that  heroic  consecration  is  just  as  great 
today  as  in  the  days  of  the  early  church : 

"The  next  heir  to  the  chieftain  or  king  was  a  quiet  man, 
making  no  outward  show,  but  he  and  his  wife  had  turned  from 
idols  to  serve  the  living  God.  As  I  got  to  know  him  more  and 
more,  I  saw  how  honest  and  true  a  man  he  was.  The  chief- 
tain died,  and  this  man  was  the  next  heir.  The  people  came 
to  him  and  said,  'We  like  you  very  much,  but  if  you  are  to  be 
our  king  you  must  sacrifice  to  the  gods  of  the  valleys,  the 
forests,  the  mountains,  the  rain  god,  the  cholera  god,  and  the 
other  evil  spirits  who  have  power  to  hurt  us.  If  not,  we  must 
choose  another  man.' 

"His  answer  at  once  was,  *I  cannot  do  it!  I  serve  the  true 
God.'  And  so  he  had  to  earn  his  living  by  keeping  a  little 
shop,  and  working  on  his  own  little  field.     He  never  spoke  of 


MANHOOD  FOR  CHRIST  449 

this  great  deed  abroad,  and  yet  he  was,  perhaps,  the  only  man 
living  in  the  world  who  had  given  up  a  kingdom  for  Christ's 
sake." 

A    Man's    Opportunities. 

Sixteen  years  ago  Professor  Babcock  invented  the  milk  test 
machine.  He  knew  his  invention  would  bring  him  a  fortune 
if  he  should  patent  it,  as  every  progressive  dairyman  would 
wish  to  use  it;  but  he  choose  to  tell  of  it  in  a  bulletin  scat- 
tered broadcast,  to  which  he  added  the  words,  "This  is  not 
patented."  He  wanted  to  help  other  people;  his  was  the  love 
that  "seeketh  not  its  own." 

Two  men  were  in  college  together.  One,  a  plodding  farm 
hand  had  saved  enough  for  his  course  of  study.  His  chum,  a 
brilliant  man,  was  forced  to  leave  college  by  the  sudden  death 
of  his  father.  A  few  days  after  his  departure  he  received  this 
message : 

"Dear  Jack,  I've  been  thinking  things  over.  There's  no  pos- 
sible question  but  that  you'll  get  more  out  of  a  college  course 
than  I  could.  You'll  surely  make  a  mark  in  the  world.  I  can 
never  be  more  than  a  fourth-rate  lawyer.  Economically  con- 
sidered, therefore,  to  educate  me  and  leave  you  out,  is  reck- 
less extravagance.  I  enclose  a  check  for  the  amount  I've 
saved,  which  was  to  give  me  my  course.  This  will  see  you 
through  with  strict  economy.  Of  course,  I  know  you  will  not 
want  to  do  this;  but  I've  thought  it  all  out,  and  it's  the  plain, 
common  sense  of  the  situation.  Moreover,  I  shall  disappear  by 
the  time  you  receive  this,  and  nobody  will  know  where  I  am. 
So  you  couldn't  return  the  check,  anyhow.  Good-by  and 
good  luck." 

Moral    Courage. 

A  young  man  in  a  London  omnibus  noticed  the  blue  ribbon 
total  abstinence  badge  on  a  fellow-passenger's  coat,  and  asked 
him  in  a  bantering  tone  "how  much  he  got"  for  wearing  it. 
"That  I  cannot  exactly  say,"  replied  the  other,  "but  it  costs 
me  about  twenty  thousand  pounds  a  year."  The  wearer  of  the 
badge  was  Frederick  Charrington,  son  of  a  rich  brewer,  and 
the  intended  successor  of  his  father's  wealth.    But  he  sacrificed 


450  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

all   and   devoted   himself   to   the    cause   of   temperance.      How 
much  are  you  willing  to  Scicrifice  for  your  neighbor's  good? 

The  Man  Who  Dared. 

Where  are  the  wise  men — the  great  astrologers  and  the 
Chaldeans?  Where  are  the  wise  men  of  Babylon  today?  But 
that  old  Hebrew — he  went  down  to  shine.  Thank  God  he 
shines  all  along.  He  has  been  shining  these  2,500  years.  Now, 
he  dared  to  be  called  religious.  He  dared  to  be  called  narrow- 
minded.  I  believe  if  you  had  gone  up  to  some  man  in  Baby- 
lon and  asked  him  about  Daniel  he  would  have  said,  "Well,  he 
is  a  good  man — a  very  good  man ;  but  you  know  he  is  a  very 
narrow-minded  man — a  bigoted  man.  While  he  was  in  the 
king's  household  he  wouldn't  eat  meat  or  drink  wine — wouldn't 
touch  them  at  all.  He  lived  on  pulse  and  water,  and  came 
near  losing  his  head."  But,  my  dear  friends,  look  at  the  way 
that  man  has  stood  all  these  centuries.  He  dared  to  be  odd; 
he  dared  to  be  peculiar. — Moody. 

Honor   at   Cost   of   Life. 

In  the  Colon  cemetery,  near  Havana,  there  stands  a  beau- 
tiful and  costly  marble  shaft  known  as  the  Students'  Monu- 
ment. In  November,  the  Governor  of  the  island  and  other 
American  officials  attend  a  memorial  service,  annually  held  at 
the  foot  of  this  shaft,  in  honor  of  a  group  of  young  men  who 
would  not  betray  their  companions. 

A  group  of  students  from  the  University  of  Havana  vented 
their  hatred  of  a  Spanish  official  by  desecrating  his  tomb  in  the 
Espada  cemetery.  As  the  school  stood  together  in  refusing 
to  disclose  the  offender,  the  Governor-General  issued  a  decree 
that  every  tenth  boy  in  the  school  should  sufifer  death.  On 
November  27,  1869,  these  lads  were  lined  up  in  front  of  one  of 
the  university  buildings  and  were  executed  by  a  detachment  of 
Spanish  soldiers.  These  young  men  chose  an  ignominious 
death,  rather  than  violate  a  standard  of  honor, — The  Homiletic 
Review. 

Men  Who  Have  Been   Side-tracked. 

A  few  years  since,  one  of  the  pastors  in  Chicago  organized  his 
willing  workers  into  a  number  of  flying  squadrons,  and  a  house- 
to-house    canvass    was    made   of    all    the    residence    section    lying 


MANHOOD  FOR  CHRIST  451 

within  reasonable  walk  of  their  place  of  worship.  And  to  the 
surprise  of  all  except  the  pastor,  the  callers  found  more  church 
members  upon  the  sidetracks  than  on  the  main  line.  That  no 
particular  creed  or  polity  was  responsible  for  this  condition  of 
things  was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  "strays"  belonged'  to 
every  denomination  under  the  sun;  and  they  were  shunted  with 
equal  impartiality  from  the  Calvinistic  trunk  lines  and  Arminian 
transcontinental  systems  as  well  as  from  "come-outer"  branches 
and  "seceder"  stubs.  Meanwhile  all  the  churches  are  suffering 
from  "a  dearth  of  rolling  stock"  while  the  sJdetracks  are  choked 
to  suffocation  with  useless  and  decaying  cars.  For  there  can  be 
no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  a  Christian  will  go  to  pieces  faster  on 
a  sidetrack  than  on  the  regular  run. — The  Interior. 
Paying  the  Piper. 

The  man  who  lives  high  for  a  few  years,  and  pays  for  it  by  the 
starvation  diet  prescribed  by  the  doctor,  and  by  unutterable 
torments  which  no  physician  can  cure,  has  taken  his  choice,  and 
perhaps  has  calculated  his  chances,  and  is  only  reaping  that  which 
he  has  sown.  He  had  his  choice  in  the  beginning,  he  takes  the 
consequences  at  the  end;  and  usually  regrets  when  too  late  the 
mistakes  which  he  has  made.  But  it  is  quite  probable  if  the 
work  were  to  be  done  over  again,  he  would  do  as  he  did  before. 
Appetite  is  strong,  will  is  sometimes  weak,  the  conscience  is  often 
dormant,  and  unless  men  do  really  fear  God,  and  have  regard  for 
his  will,  they  are  unlikely  to  yield  to  the  control  of  principle; 
they  will  have  their  way,  and  risk  the  consequences,  and  "mourn 
at  the  last,"  when  their  mourning  is  in  vain. 

If  men  would  sit  down  at  the  beginning  and  count  the  cost, 
matters  might  be  different,  but  there  are  few  who  are  ready  to 
do  this.  They  have  their  will  and  their  way,  and  not  only  do 
they  themselves  suffer  in  consequence,  but  they  inflict  calamities 
upon  others  who,  though  innocent,  yet  are  compelled  to  bear  the 
burdens  and  endure  the  miseries  which  are  caused  by  their  trans- 
gression of  physical  law.  As  the  young  criminal  not  only  brings 
sorrow  to  himself,  but  also  breaks  his  mother's  heart,  and  brings 
down  father's  gray  hairs  in  sorrow  to  the  grave,  so  many  persons 
transgress  the  laws  of  life,  and  bring  sorrows,  burdens,  trials  and 
afflictions  upon  friends  and  kindred,  parents  and  children,  who, 
instead   of  being  helped   and   comforted   as   they   should   be,   are 


4S2  THE  PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

weighted  down  with  troobles  whidi  others  have  brought  upon 
thenuehres  throo^  neglect  and  reddessness  and  disobedience  to 
divine  laws,  written  in  their  nature  as  plainly  as  laws  were 
written  upon  the  tables  of  stone. 

Let  persons  think  carefully  before  the^/  enter  upon  courses 
which  lead  to  sickness,  sorrow  and  distress;  and  let  those  who 
have  entered  upon  such  courses  halt  and  hesitate  before  tfiey 
determine  to  persist  in  a  path  which  can  only  aid  in  sorrow, 
suffering  and  vain  regrets. — TAe  Chrittian. 

Wanted,  Gideons. 
In  Victor  Hugo's  sketch  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo  in  L^/ 
Muerables,  he  brings  out  tltments  sometimes  forgotten.  "Na- 
poleon had  already  been  impeached  before  the  Infinite," 
he  says.  His  statement  is  altogether  just,  for  selfishness,  des- 
potic cruelty,  disregard  for  the  rights  of  individuals  and  of 
nations  have  been  impeached  before  the  Infinite  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  But  the  divine  impeachment  was  only 
made  effective  in  that  particular  instance,  when  the  Iron  Duke 
of  Wellington  and  the  English  regulars,  trained  in  their  youth 
on  the  football  fields  of  Eton  and  Rugby,  trained  in  their 
maturity  in  a  score  of  hard-fought  battles,  stood  up  and 
received  the  full  shock  of  that  fierce  attack  of  the  French 
troops  without  giving  way;  and  then  gathering  their  full 
strength,  flung  themselves  upon  the  enemy  and  drove  them 
back.  The  sv/ord  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon!  The  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  of  Wellington  I  The  sword  of  the  Lord 
and  of  those  brave  souls,  few  though  they  may  be  in  numbers, 
who  cause  the  impeachments  of  the  Almighty  to  stand  fast! 

A  Man's  Job. 
Suspended  above  the  desk  of  an  American  bank  president 
is  this  motto,  "Do  the  hard  things  first."  Ten  years  ago 
he  was  only  a  clerk  in  the  bank,  and  he  was  asked  how  his 
success  had  been  so  rapid.  He  replied  that  he  had  lived  up 
to  the  text.  For  a  long  time  he  was  conscious  that  he  was 
not  getting  on  as  fast  as  he  should.  He  was  not  keeping  up 
with  his  work;  it  was  distasteful  to  him.  By  doing  the  easy 
things  first  and  putting  off  the  difficult  tasks,  he  became  intel- 
lectually lazy,  and  felt  an  increasing  incapacity  for  his  work. 


MANHOOD  FOR   CHRIST  453 

But  one  morning  he  woke  up  and  took  stock  of  himself.  The 
thought  came  to  him  that  he  had  been  neglecting  the  difficult 
duties,  and  at  once  began  to  "clean  house."  It  was  not  half 
so  hard  as  he  expected.  Then  he  took  a  card  and  wrote  on 
it,  "Do  the  hard  things  first,"  and  put  it  where  he  could  see 
it  every  morning.  He  has  been  doing  the  hard  things  ever 
since. 

"Forward,  Men!" 

An  example  of  holy  heroism  always  "strengthens  the  waver- 
ing line"  of  weaker  ones,  Before  the  battle  of  Imvc  Forks, 
when,  after  prolonged  exertions,  flesh  and  blood  seemed  una- 
ble to  respond  to  fresh  calls,  vSheridan,  after  an  impassioned 
address  to  the  men  he  called  "my  army,"  gave  the  order, 
"Cowards  to  the  rear!"  Not  a  trooper  obeyed.  To  his  next 
call,  "Forward!"  the  whole  line  moved  in  a  whirlwind  of  vic- 
tory. So  the  immovable  and  unterrified  soldier  Paul,  looking 
ever  into  the  eye  of  his  captain,  not  only  advances  steadily, 
but  confirms  the  faith  of -his  brethren.  The  conclusion  of  the 
whole  matter  is  thus  written  by  I.uke:  "We  ceased,  saying, 
'The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done.'  " — GrifUs. 

One  Thousand  Successful  Men. 

I  have  on  my  desk  a  list  of  one  thousand  successful  men  of 
this  nation.  By  "successful"  I  do  not  mean  mere  money- 
makers, but  men  who  have  given  us  new  conceptic^ns  of  steam, 
electricity,  construction  work,  education,  etc.  These  are  the 
men  who  influence  our  moral  as  well  as  {physical  lives.  They 
construct  for  .better  things. 

How  these  men  started  in  work  is  interesting.  Their  first 
foothold  in  work  is  a  fine  study. 

Two  hundred  started  as  farmers'  sons. 

Two  hundred   started   as   messenger  boys. 

Two  hundred  were  newsboys. 

One   hundred    were    printers'   apprentices. 

One    hundred    were    apprenticed    in    manufactories. 

Fifty  began  at  the  bottom  of  railway  work. 

Fifty — only  fifty — had  wealthy  parents  to  give  them  a  start. 
— 'Juvenile  Court  Record. 


454  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

"Ye  That  Are   Men  Now   Serve   Him." 
Paul's  persistency  was  not  obstinacy.     He,  too,  was  inspired, 
and  understood  God's  will  better  than  Agabus. 

"He   saw   a   hand   they  could  not  see, 

Which  beckoned  him  away; 
He  heard  a  voice  they  could  not  hear. 
Which  would  not  let  him  stay." 
Fifteen  hundred  years  afterward  Luther,  advised  by  a  friend 
not    to    proceed    to    Worms    because    of    the    dangers    which 
threatened  him  there,  said,  "I  would  go  to  Worms  were  there 
as   many   devils   there   as   tiles   on   the   housetops."     Later   he 
wrote   in   regard  to   a   great   enemy,   "I   would   enter   Leipzig 
though  it  should  rain  Duke  Georges  for  nine  days  running." 

Erasmus  shared  Luther's  convictions  and  was  far  more 
learned,  but  he  said,  "I  have  always  been  cautious ;  I  would 
rather  die  than  cause  a  disturbance  *  *  *  *  When  we 
can  do  no  good  we  have  a  right  to  be  silent  *  *  *  * 
A  worm  like  me  must  not  dispute  with  lawful  rulers  *  *  * 
There  are  seasons  when  we  must  even  conceal  the  truth." 
Cowardice  like  this  brings  about  no  reformation.  It  needed 
a  man  who  counted  not  life  dear  for  Christ's   sake. 

Our  Personal  Responsibility. 

Every  man  is  responsible  for  receiving  the  light  when  it  is 
given.  No  one  may  hide  in  a  cave  and  then  excuse  himself 
by  saying,  "I  can  see  no  light!"  An  important  legal  principle 
is  this,  "Ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  defense  for  its  transgres- 
sion." Men  should  know  the  law,  and  they  are  held  account- 
able to  it.  Some  men  in  Chorazin,  Bethsaida  or  Capernaum 
might  have  said,  in  response  to  Christ's  words,  "We  have  been 
so  busy  with  our  trading  or  pleasures  or  self-absorptions,  that 
we  did  not  know  that  anything  special  had  happened  in  our 
cities  or  that  any  'mighty  works'  had  been  wrought  there." 
They  should  have  known.  "Mighty  works"  have  been  wrought 
in  some  of  our  communities,  in  some  of  our  churches,  in  some 
of  our  homes,  when  souls  have  been  "born  from  above." 
Christ  might  well  say,  "If  the  mighty  works,  which  have  been 
done  in  your  community,  your  church,  your  home,  had  been 
done  in  China,  they  would  have  repented.     Verily  I  say  unto 


MANHOOD  FOR   CHRIST  4#5 

you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  China  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment than  for  you!"  One  man  transformed  in  character;  on€ 
home  changed  in  its  spirit;  one  life  filled  with  new  impulses — 
these  are  "mighty  works";  these  are  evidences  of  the  present 
power  of  Christ;  these  become  "witnesses"  against  those  who 
fail  to  discern  the  spiritual  forces  working  in  them. — Monday  Club 
Sermons. 

Men's  Need  of  Christ. 

You  might  as  well  quench  the  sun,  and  suppose  that  the 
world  could  get  on  without  light,  as  to  think  that  men  or 
nations  could  do  without  God. 

Farrar  says,  "There  is  not  a  historian  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury who  does  not  admit  that  a  fearful  moral  retrogression 
followed  on  the  overflow  of  faith." 

The  Life  of  Unselfish  Service. 

Ruskin,  the  great  English  writer,  insists  that  the  life  that 
does  not  know  any  giving  up  of  self  is  an  unworthy  life. 
Again  and  again  he  calls  to  self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  if  we 
are  to  follow  our  Master.  Ruskin  was  born  heir  to  nearly 
a  million  dollars,  and  by  his  writings  earned  another  fortune. 
Possessed  of  youth,  wealth  and  fame,  he  was  courted  by  all 
the  rich  and  great,  but  he  gave  himself  and  his  means  to  the 
poor.  He  saw  multitudes  of  men  and  women  toiling  in  shops 
for  eighty  hours  a  week,  and  he  decided  to  devote  himself 
to  their  uplifting.  To  this  purpose  he  gave  a  tenth  of  his 
fortune,  then  a  third,  a  half,  and  finally  all  his  means. 

Life's  Splendid  Opportunities. 

The  Gunnison  tunnel  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  modern  civil 
engineering.  It  is  the  longest  underground  waterway  in  the 
world,  and  has  been  constructed  under  the  most  discouraging 
difficulties.  For  four  years  the  men,  with  their  drills,  have 
been  at  work  boring  the  mountain,  and  now,  finally,  the  Pres- 
ident, from  a  platform,  high  above  the  waters,  touched  the 
button  and  gave  the  signal  for  the  opening  of  the  channel  that 
will  carry  the  water  of  the  river  over  a  territory  of  150,000 
acres,  and  convert  what  is  now  almost  worthless  land  into  one 
of  the  richest  sections  of  the  whole  west. 


456  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN   EVANGELIST 

The  story  is  a  wonderful  one  of  daring  and  skill.  The 
Gunnison  flows  in  a  narsow  gorge  from  two  thousand  to 
three  thousand  feet  in  depth,  rushing,  roaring,  dashing  in 
fruitless  fury  against  its  walls,  leaping  over  precipices,  until 
it  issues  in  the  plain  where  only  a  few  settlers  have  found  the 
means  of  living.  So  deep  is  the  canon  that  in  places  the  sun 
is  not  seen  and  it  is  consequently  known  as  the  Black  Canon. 
The  preparatory  survey  of  the  river  was  one  of  the  most  daring 
ever  undertaken.  No  man  had  ever  lived  to  pass  through  that 
gorge.  When  a  message  came  from  the  Department  at 
Washington  inquiring  about  the  feasibility  of  a  tunnel,  two 
men  volunteered  for  the  service.  They  were  lowered  straight 
down  twenty-five  hundred  feet,  with  an  outfit  of  a  rubber 
mattress  for  a  boat,  some  instruments  and  a  small  food  sup- 
ply. They  committed  themselves  to  the  torrent,  landing 
here  and  there  to  take  observations  and  make  measurements. 
Dashed  through  fearful  rapids  and  falls,  hurled  through  a 
natural  tunnel  into  the  unknown  beyond,  on  the  twelfth  day 
they  emerged,  exhausted  and  nearly  naked,  cold  and  wet  and 
hungry.  "The  Gunnison  tunnel  is  feasible,"  was  their  brief 
message,  and  quickly  the  work  was  begun.  Six  miles  through 
rock  and  gravel  beds,  striking  streams  of  water  and  fumes 
of  poisonous  gas,  exposed  at  times  to  falling  roof,  the  work 
has  been  driven  and  now  the  opening  has  been  made,  and  as 
soon  as  the  wall  can  be  cemented,  the  channel,  ten  and  a  half 
by  eleven  and  a  half  feet,  will  empty  thirteen  hundred  cubic 
feet  of  water  a  second  into  a  canal  twelve  miles  long,  to  make 
the  Uncompaghre  Valley  one  of  our  most  productive  sections. 
The  United  Presbyterian. 

"Staying  Power." 
Good  impulses  are  abundant  and  cheap.  They  will  never 
hold  you  in  a  sharp  fight  unless  you  have  the  staying  power 
which  Christ  imparts.  To  stand  the  sneers  of  scoffers,  to  resist 
the  rush  for  sudden  wealth,  to  conquer  fleshly  appetites,  to  hold 
an  unruly  temper  under  control,  to  keep  base  passions  sub- 
dued, and  to  direct  all  your  plans  and  purposes  straight  toward 
the  highest  mark,  require  a  power  above  your  own.  Christ's 
mastery  of  you  will  give  you  self-mastery;  yea,  and  mastery 


MANHOOD  FOR  CHRIST  457 

over  the  powers  of  darkness  and  of  hell.  Faith  will  fire  the 
last  shot,  and  when  the  battle  of  life  ends  you  will  stand 
among  the  crowned  conquerors  in  glory. — T.  L.  Cuyler,  D.  D. 

The  Superiority  of  Moral  Forces. 

Amid  the  tumult  of  revolutionary  upheavals  in  Turkey  the 
superiority  of  moral  force  over  mere  brute  force  was  demon- 
strated in  more  than  one  instance.  One  case  of  it  is  described 
as  taking  place  within  the  Parliament  House.  When  thous- 
ands of  mutinous  soldiers,  fully  armed,  filled  the  square  of 
St.  Sofia,  and  other  thousands  of  excited  populace  crowded 
the  neighboring  streets,  a  committee  from  the  rioters  entered 
the  assembly  and  insisted  on  certain  demands.  One  of  the 
deputies,  an  Armenian,  it  is  said,  rose  in  his  place,  regardless 
of  personal  danger,  and  replied  to  them,  "The  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  which  is  the  highest  representative  of  the  nation, 
cannot  enter  into  discussion  with  you.  After  respectfully 
presenting  your  demands  you  must  withdraw  from  this  place 
so  that  the  chamber  may  conduct  its  discussion  independently. 
The  chamber  is  not  afraid  of  anyone;  it  fears  only  its  own 
conscience."  The  efifect  of  this  answer  upon  the  deputies 
is  said  to  have  been  electric.  It  gave  courage  to  them  all  and 
the  committee  was  obliged  to  retire,  leaving  them  to  pursue 
their  deliberations  without  armed  interference. — The  Missionary 
Herald. 


SERVICE  EIGHTEEN— Sunday  Evening 
The  Fruits  of  Indecision 


TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XVIII 

TEXTS  FOR  SERVICE  XVIII. 

"The  Parable  of  the  Virgins."— Ma^f.  25:1-13. 

The  night  cometh. — John  9:4. 

The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are 
not  saved. — Jer.  8:20. 

Then  shall  the  end  come. — Matt.  24:14. 

The  valley  of  decision. — Joel  3:14. 

And  as  thy  servant  was  busy  here  and  there,  he  was 
gone. — /  Kings  20:40. 

Our  lamps  are  gone  out. — Matt.  25:8. 

And  Gallio  cared   for  none  of  those  things. — Acts 
18:17. 

Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian. — Acts 
26:28. 

When  I  have  a  convenient  season. — Acts  24:2^, 


CLUES  TO  TEXTS 

The  Parable  of  the  Virgins.— Matt.  25:1-13. 

1.  The  coming  bridegroom. 

2.  Preparation — oil  reserves. 

3.  Unreadiness — empty  lamp. 

4.  The  shut  door — the  irrevocable  past. 

The  night  cometh. — John  9:4. 

1.  The  close  of  the  day  of  opportunity  for  service. 

2.  The  setting  of  the  sun  of  grace. 

3.  The  darkness  of  endless  despair. 

The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not 
saved. — Jer.  8:20. 

1.  Ample  opportunity  for  salvation  provided. 

2.  Prodigal  neglect. 

3.  An  alarming  realization. 

Then  shall  the  end  come. —Matt.  24:14. 

1.  Under  the  spell  of  the  present,  men  forget  the  future. 

2.  Nevertheless,    "Swift    to    its    close    ebbs    out    life's 

little  day." 

3.  The  end  of  the  longest  earth-life  will  surely  come; 

are  we  ready  for  it? 

The  valley  of  decision. — Joel  3 :14. 

1.  Life  means  constant  choosing. 

2.  These    choices    fix    character.     "Character    is    reiter- 

ated choice." — George  Eliot. 

3.  These   choices   determine   destiny. 

4.  With   what  care   they  should   be   made.       "Choose 

thou  nsy  way." 

And  as  thy  servant  was  busy  here  and  there,  he  was  gone. — 
1  Kings  20:40. 

1.  Our  temptation  to  absorption  in  the  relatively  unim- 

portant ;  many  a  life  a  pursuit  of  trifles. 

2.  As  a  result  we  miss  life's  higher  meaning;  heaven's 

messenger. 

3.  Many   awaken   to   a    realization    of   their   folly  too 

late;  "he  was  gone." 


462  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Our  lamps  are  gone  out. — Matt.  25 :8. 

1.  Wasted   opportunities. 

2.  Realized  need. 

3.  No  supplies  are  available. 

And  Gallio  cared  for  none  of  those  things. — Acts  18:17. 

1.  An  overestimate  of  earth. 

2.  An    underestimate    of    heaven. 

3.  The   great   insanity — worldliness. 

Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian. — Acts  26:28. 

1.  The  "almost"  Christians. 

2.  Almost  cannot  avail. 

3.  Altogether  Christians  alone  are  safe. 

When  I  have  a  convenient  season. — Acts  24:25. 

1.  Procrastination  the  tendency. 

2.  Its  folly;  difficulties  increase  with  years. 

3.  Its   danger;   too   often   the   more   convenient   season 

never  comes. 

4.  "Today,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 

heart."      "Now    is    the    accepted    time."      "Thou 
knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth." 


SUGGESTIONS 

Concentrate  all  forces  upon  this  closing  service. 

A  brief,  direct  talk  in  the  young  people's  meeting  should 
not  be  overlooked. 

If  you  held  a  conference  with  the  personal  workers  on  the 
previous  evening,  their  influence  for  good  has  been  at  work 
throughout  the  day.  Urge  them  to  be  on  the  alert  for  improv- 
ing opportunities  before  and  after  this  evening  service. 

Make  the  opening  service  of  song  contribute  toward  the  end 
in  view — the  revealing  of  any  still  undecided. 

The  after-talk  and  after-meeting  have  special  significance. 
Prepare  for  them  prayerfully. 

Invite  callers  to  your  study,  or  offer  to  make  appointments 
elsewhere,  during  the  week  following. 

Do  not  continue  the  services  unless  there  is  the  most  urgent 
demand  for  it. 

Plan  to  use  "follow-up  methods,"  and  encourage  inquirers  tc 
make  appointments  with  you.  The  aftermath  of  special  ser- 
vices will  often  almost  equal  the  harvest  gathered  while  they 
were  in  progress. 


SEED  THOUGHTS 

Once  more.  Listen !  The  answer  you  give  to  that  question 
will  settle  your  destiny.  Don't  forget  that.  You  will  go  up 
or  down  as  you  answer  that  question.  All  you  know  about 
the  next  world  is  from  this  book,  and  it  talks  about  two  places. 
It  talks  about  the  rest  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God ; 
it  talks  about  the  many  mansions  and  the  streets  of  gold,  and 
it  does  not  trouble  me  about  the  streets  of  gold  or  many 
mansions.  All  that  I  care  about  is  getting  where  Jesus  is, 
and  meeting  my  mother  again,  and  if  you  give  me  Jesus  and 
my  mother  you  can  put  me  back  in  ray  gypsy  tent  and  that 
will  be  heaven.  I  want  no  better  heaven  than  Christ  and  my 
mother  and  my  loved  ones.  You  may  have  the  streets  of 
gold  and  the  walls  of  jasper,  but  that  would  not  be  heaven 
for  me  if  I  hadn't  Christ  and  those  I  loved.  I  think  we  shall 
all  be  surprised  when  we  get  there.  No  eye  hath  seen  it  or 
ear  heard  it.  It  has  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the 
things  that  God  has  prepared  for  those  that  love  him.  I  am 
sure  nobody  else  knows  what  the  last  world  will  be  like, 
and  I  pray  God  none  of  you  may  know.  But  to  lose  Christ 
and  those  I  love  would  be  hell  enough  for  me. — Gipsy  Smith. 

There  is  no  now — only  a  past  of  which  we  know  a  little, 
and  a  future  of  which  we  know  far  less  and  far  more.  No 
sooner  have  I  spoken  the  word  now,  than  that  now  is  dead 
and  another  now  is  dying. — George  MacDonald. 

One  of  the  most  puzzling  as  well  as  saddest  probleras 
to  many  earnest  Christians,  is  the  spectacle  of  men  living 
without  God  in  the  world  and  apparently  content  so  to  live. 
Persons  to  whom  God  is  the  reality  of  all  realities,  who  culti- 
vate the  sense  of  his  presence  and  delight  to  commune  with 
him  in  private  and  public  devotions,  finding  relief  in  every 
exigency  of  life  in  casting  their  burdens  on  the  Lord,  cannot 
understand  the  practically  pagan  lives  which  so  many  of  their 
fellowmen  are  living. 


THE   FRUITS   OF   INDECISION  465 

But  after  all,  this  progressive  paralysis  of  a  man's  nature 
on  its  Godward  side  is  not  so  great  a  mystery.  It  takes 
place  under  a  law  with  whose  workings  we  are  all  familiar. 
That  law  is  that  the  disuse  of  any  faculty  of  the  soul  or  func- 
tion of  the  body  is  followed  by  its  gradual  decay.  Muscles 
that  are  not  brought  into  exercise  shrivel.  An  arm  that  does 
not  work  will  presently  be  unable  to  do  so.  A  man  who 
would  refuse  to  leave  his  chair  or  bed  would  find  after  a 
while  that  his  limbs  had  lost  their  power.  The  human  eye,  if 
shut  up  to  perpetual  darkness,  would  fare  no  better  than  the 
eye  of  the  mole.  So  with  our  mental  faculties.  There  is  no 
way  to  preserve  their  alertness  except  by  keeping  them  in 
exercise.  The  poor  thinking  which  has  become  chronic  with 
so  many  of  us  is  the  penalty  on  our  refusal  to  do  good  and 
hard  thinking  in  the  past.  The  very  capacity  for  logical  proc- 
esses is  dwindling  and  its  vanishing-point  is  almost  in  sight. 
The  difference  between  people  in  the  matter  of  memory 
is  not  by  any  means  only  one  of  original  endowment ;  it  is 
largely  due  to  difference  in  self-training.  If  we  fail  to  culti- 
vate this  faculty,  it  will  constantly  become  more  impotent  and 
unreliable.  Nothing  disappears  more  quickly  than  unused 
knowledge.  And  in  this  same  way  it  is  a  great  mistake  for 
anyone  to  suppose  that  opportunity  of  salvation  will  be  as 
good  and  hopeful  after  years  of  neglect  of  God  as  it  is  today. 
God's  mercy  will  be  no  less,  indeed,  and  his  grace  will  be  as 
potent  where  it  can  find  entrance  and  room  to  work.  But  it 
is  just  the  capacity  on  the  human  side  to  receive  him  that 
becomes  impaired,  and  at  last  atrophied.  Drummond's  words 
carry  a  penetrating  admonition,  "The  soul  in  its  highest  sense 
is  a  vast  capacity  for  God.  It  is  like  a  curious  chamber  added 
on  to  being,  and  somehow  involving  being,  a  chamber  with 
elastic  and  contractile  walls;  which  can  be  expanded,  with  God 
as  its  guest,  inimitably,  but  which  without  God  shrinks  and 
shrivels  until  every  vestige  of  the  divine  is  gone,  and  God's 
image  is  left  without  God's  spirit.  One  cannot  call  what  is 
left  a  soul ;  it  is  a  shrunken,  useless  organ,  a  capacity  sentenced 
to  death  by  disuse,  which  droops  as  a  withered  hand  by  the 
side,  and  cumbers  nature  like  a  rotted  branch."     In  this  view 


466  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

of  the  matter  a  new  and  solemn  meaning  attaches  to  the  ques- 
tion whose  significance  has  perhaps  been  dulled  to  us  by  fre- 
quent repetition,  "How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation?" — The  Lutheran  Observer. 

Those  who  reject  Christ,  and  in  him  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
remain  under  the  judgment  of  death,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  "free  gift  has  come  upon"  them  "unto  life."  Moreover, 
the  knowledge  of  sins  forgiven  tends  to  holiness,  not  to  more 
sin ;  for  when  a  man  knows  enough  about  sin  to  care  for  for- 
giveness, he  knows  enough  about  it  to  loathe  it,  and  to  desire 
with  all  his  heart  to  be  quit  of  it.  The  danger  is  not  that  men 
will  abuse  the  gift  of  God,  but  that  they  will  despise  and 
neglect  it.  "How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  sal- 
vation?" (Heb.  2:3).  Now,  how  can  I  neglect  a  thing  that 
has  not  come  to  me?  God's  salvation,  including  his  forgive- 
ness, has  come  to  us  as  a  free  and  unconditional  gift.  The 
acceptance  of  that  gift  does  not  lead  men  to  sin,  but  the 
neglect  of  it  leaves  them  in  sin. — Pentecost. 

Count  von  Moltke,  the  great  German  strategist  and  general, 
chose  for  his  motto,  "Erst  wagen,  dann  wagen"  (First  weigl\ 
then  venture),  and  it  is  to  this  he  owes  his  great  victories  and 
successes.  Slow,  cautious,  careful  in  planning,  but  bold,  dar- 
ing, even  seemingly  reckless  in  execution,  the  moment  his 
resolve  is  made.  Vows  must  ripen  into  deeds,  decision  must 
go  on  to  performance. — Selected. 

Whilst  the  reading,  "Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a 
Christian,"  may  be  disputed,  it  is  a  truth  of  tremendous 
importance.  Almost  persuaded  is  no  better  than  not  persuaded 
at  all.  Almost  is  to  be  lost.  Some  time  ago,  on  Mount  Wash- 
ington, two  experienced  climbers  were  caught  in  a  storm  of 
icy  sleet.  They  struggled  bravely,  but  in  vain.  One  of  the 
dead  men  was  found  a  couple  hundred  yards  from  the  Sum- 
mit House,  the  flesh  of  the  fingers  worn  to  the  bone  by  con- 
tact with  the  ice-covered  rocks  over  which  he  had  crawled  in 
his  struggle  to  reach  the  top  and  safety.  Almost  safe  when 
strength  failed  and  death  came.  How  terribly  sad!  Yet  Christ 
comes  and  opens  the  door  of  salvation.     Men  see  him,  hear  his 


THE   FRUITS   OF   INDECISION  467 

invitation,. are  drawn  towards  him,  and  then  turn  away.  Almost 
persuaded  but  not  quite.  Almost  saved  but  lost,  not  as  those 
gallant  men,  struggling  to  enter — no  one  has  ever  failed  who 
sought  safety  with  Christ — but  turning  from  the  persuasions 
of  the  Spirit,  of  their  own  better  nature  to  the  sins  they 
loved,  like  Agrippa,  they  died  miserably  as  he  did,  lost. — Selected. 

"Here  I  am,"  says  one,  "with  snow  in  my  hair,  winter  in 
my  blood,  and,  worst  of  all,  with  ice  in  my  soul,  waiting  for 
the  stroke  that  will  soon  cut  me  down.  Oh,  for  the  sensibility 
I  had  when  every  sermon  seemed  like  a  sword-thrust,  and 
every  appeal  rung  in  my  soul  like  a  thunderclap !" — Selected. 

One  of  the  excuses  frequently  given  is,  "I  want  to  think 
about  it."  You  assume  that  you  are  so  serious  in  the  matter 
that  you  want  to  ponder  solemnly  and  deeply  whether  your 
life  belongs  to  God  or  not ;  or  whether  your  soul  is  in  danger 
or  not.  How  absurd !  Where  is  the  man  who  does  not  know 
without  thinking  about  it  that  his  life  belongs  to  God,  and  that 
he  is  lost  as  long  as  he  refuses  to  yield  his  life  to  him?  If 
you  were  in  a  burning  house  and  someone  cried  to  you  to  fly 
for  your  life,  would  you  say,  "I  want  to  think  about  it?"  If 
you  had  fallen  into  the  sea  and  someone  were  to  throw  you  a 
line,  calling  on  you  to  grasp  it,  would  you  say,  "I  want  to 
think  about  it?"  And  yet,  you  are  in  danger  every  day  of 
dying  unsaved,  and  knowing  what  to  do  to  be  saved,  you  still 
say,  "I  want  to  think  about  it."  If  I  were  to  ask  you  what  you 
want  to  think  about  you  could  not  tell  me.  In  your  heart  you 
know  that  your  real  purpose  is  to  get  rid  of  one  who  asks  you 
an  unpleasant  question.  You  really  do  not  want  to  think  about 
religion  at  all.  You  know  that  you  should  be  a  Christian;  that 
you  can  be  a  Christian;  that  you  can  hold  out;  that  you  never 
can  know  how  faithful  you  can  be  until  you  try;  and  that  you 
cannot  be  saved  as  long  as  you  reject  the  only  Savior,  Jesus 
Christ.  You  know  enough.  You  need  to  act.  Do  not  men 
dodge  every  kind  of  unpleasant  duty  by  saying,  "I  want  to 
think  about  it?"  This  excuse  has  robbed  God  of  the  service 
of  many  men  and  populated  perdition. — Dr.  Wiest, 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Atrophy  of  the  Spiritual. 

I  have  said  that  in  one  respect  my  mind  has  changed  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years.  Up  to  the  age  of  thirty,  or 
beyond  it,  poetry  of  many  kinds,  such  as  the  works  of  Milton, 
Gray,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge  and  Shelley,  gave  me 
great  pleasure,  and  even  as  a  school-boy  I  took  intense  delight 
in  Shakespeare,  especially  in  the  historical  plays.  I  have  also 
said  that  formerly  pictures  gave  me  considerable,  and  music 
very  great  delight.  I  have  lately  tried  to  read  Shakespeare, 
and  found  it  so  intolerably  dull  that  it  nauseated  me.  I  have 
also  almost  lost  my  taste  for  pictures  or  music.  Music  gener- 
ally sets  me  thinking  too  energetically  on  what  I  have  been  at 
work  on,  instead  of  giving  me  pleasure.  I  retain  some  taste 
for  fine  scenery,  but  it  does  not  cause  me  the  exquisite  delight 
which  it  formerly  did.  *  *  This  curious  and  lamentable  loss 
of  the  higher  aesthetic  tastes  is  all  the  sadder,  as  books  on 
history,  biographies  and  travels  (independently  of  any  scientific 
facts  which  they  may  contain)  and  essays  on  all  sorts  of  sub- 
jects interest  me  as  much  as  they  ever  did.  My  mind  seems  to 
have  become  a  kind  of  machine  for  grinding  general  laws  out 
of  large  collections  of  facts,  but  why  this  should  have  caused 
the  atrophy  of  that  part  of  the  brain  alone  on  which  the  higher 
tastes  depend,  I  cannot  conceive,  A  man  with  a  mind  more 
highly  organized  or  better  constituted  than  mine,  would  not, 
I  suppose,  have  thus  suffered;  and  if  I  had  to  live  my  life 
again,  I  would  have  made  it  a  rule  to  read  some  poetry  and 
listen  to  some  music  at  least  once  every  week;  for  perhaps  the 
parts  of  my  brain  now  atrophied  would  thus  have  been  kept 
active  through  use.  The  loss  of  these  tastes  is  a  loss  of  hap- 
piness, and  may  possibly  be  injurious  to  the  intellect  and  more 
probably  to  the  moral  character,  by  enfeebling  the  motional 
part  of  our  nature. — Darivin's  "Life  and  Letters." 


THE  FRUITS   OF   INDECISION  469 

The  Irrevocable  Past. 

Mr.  Moody  tells  a  similar  story  of  a  man  in  one  of  our 
insane  asylums  who  walked  up  and  down  in  the  mad-house 
constantly,  and  his  cry  was,  "If  I  only  had!"  That  was  his 
cry  from  morning  till  night  in  all  his  wakeful  hours.  His  story 
was  this :  He  was  employed  by  a  railroad  company  to  take 
care  of  a  swing-bridge,  and  he  received  a  dispatch  from  the 
superintendent  that  an  extra  train  would  pass  over  the  road, 
and  that  he  must  not  turn  the  bridge  until  the  train  has  passed. 
One  after  another  came  and  tried  to  have  him  open  the  swing- 
bridge,  and  he  refused  to  do  it.  At  last  a  friend  came  and 
over-persuaded  him,  and  he  opened  the  bridge.  He  had  no 
more  than  done  so,  when  he  heard  the  train  coming.  There 
was  not  time  to  close  the  bridge,  and  he  saw  the  train  leap, 
with  all  its  living  freight,  into  the  abyss  of  death.  His  reason 
reeled  and  tottered  upon  its  throne,  and  the  man  went  mad. 
His  cry  was.  "If  I  only  had !     If  I  only  had !" 

Ye  Cannot  Serve  God  and  Mammon. 

Raedwald,  King  of  East  Anglia,  loth  to  decide  either  for 
paganism  or  Christianity,  had  in  the  same  temple  both  a  pagan 
and  a  Christian  altar  facing  one  another. 

Fatal   Delay. 

The  saddest  of  the  many  sad  sights  which  I  have  witnessed 
was  the  death  of  a  man  who  had  been  brought  into  the  hos- 
pital terribly  injured  by  a  fall  from  a  ladder. 

He  refused  at  first  to  believe  that  recovery  was  impossible, 
and  when  he  could  no  longer  disguise  from  himself  the  fact, 
his  terror  and  excitement  were  terrible ;  and  his  answer,  when 
gently  and  persuasively  advised  to  think  upon  the  love  of  God, 
and  call  upon  him  for  pardon  and  support,  made  us  shudder. 

"God !"  he  hisssed ;  "don't  talk  to  me  of  him.  I  never  would 
think  of  him,  and  I  won't  now.     No,  that  I  won't." 

"But  you  are  going  to  him,  my  poor  man,"  said  the  chaplain 
tenderly,  anxiously.  "Oh,  remember  that  you  belong  to  him, 
he  is  your  maker ;  you  cannot  keep  yourself  from  him." 

These  words  appeared  to  rouse  him  more  fully  to  the  fact  of 
his  nearness  to  death,  and  suddenly  every  feature  settled  into 
a  wild  expression  of  terror,  he  stared  wildly  around  him,  the 


470  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

perspiration  streamed  from  his  forehead  and  trickled  down  his 
white   cheeks,   and    so    visible   were    the    agitations    that   con-" 
vulsed  his  frame  that  tears  of  mingled  pity  and  awe  filled  our 
eyes. 

"What  am  I  to  God,  eh?"  he  suddenly  shouted  fiercely,  and 
he  then  fixed  a  fiery  glance  upon  the  chaplain  as  if  to  demand 
a  reply. 

"You  are  one  for  whom  his  dear  Son  died,  to  win  forgive- 
ness," he  was  answered.  "Yes,  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners.  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  sent 
his  only  begotten  son  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  end  that  all  who 
believe  on  him  shall  not  perish — " 

"Stop,  will  you?"  interrupted  the  dying  man,  angrily,  threat- 
eningly; "I  know  what's  in  the  Bible,  but  it's  nothing  to  me, 
it  never  was,  and  can't  be  now — now  when  I'm  just  leaving  the 
world.     No  more  of  it,  I  say." 

Then  commenced  the  awful  rattle  in  his  throat,  his  lips 
became  blanched,  his  teeth  chattered,  and  there  was  something 
dreadful  in  the  brief  pause  that  followed  those  words. 

Presently  his  breath  came  in  quick  convulsive  sobs,  and  his 
last  words  were  spoken  with  great  difficulty. 

"Ha,  that's  it,"  he  said,  thickly.  "I— I've  let  the  devil  keep 
my  thoughts  of  religion  out  of  my  heart  so  long  that  now — 
now  they  can't  get  in;  he's  made  it  as  hard  as  iron.  Can't 
alter  now,  *  *  *  might  have  been  different' — could  have 
served  God  had  I  chosen.  *  *  *  Folks  can  make  their  own 
choice  about  that.     *     *     *     j  served  the  devil." 

The  last  few  words,  though  spoken  in  a  whisper,  were 
spoken  with  great  vehemence.  Presently  he  was  struggling  in 
vain  for  breath,  and  clenching  his  hands  in  agony,  and  so  he 
passed  away. 

Then  over  the  ward  fell  a  strangely  solemn  hush,  which,  at 
the  end  of  a  few  minutes,  was  broken  by  the  chaplain,  who,  in 
a  voice  tremulous  with  emotion  and  earnestness,  slowly 
upraised  the  fitting  prayer,  "From  hardness  of  heart  and  con- 
tempt of  thy  word  and  commandment — good  Lord,  deliver  us." 
— Hammond. 


THE   FRUITS   OF   INDECISION  471 

A  Savior  No  Longer. 

In  a  distant  city,  a  man  driving  down  the  street  lost  control 
of  his  horse,  and  as  it  ran  violently  through  the  crowded 
streets,  all  were  sure  that  only  death  was  before  the  driver, 
when  suddenly,  an  old  man  rushing  out  into  the  middle  of  the 
street,  seized  the  frightened  horse  by  the  bit,  hurled  him  back, 
and  saved  the  life  of  the  man  in  the  carriage.  The  rescuer  was 
one  of  the  most  prominent  judges  of  the  city.  Not  a  great 
while  after,  the  man  who  had  been  saved,  was  arrested  for  a 
crime,  and  by  a  singular  coincidence,  he  was  sent  for  trial  to 
this  very  judge.  The  trial  was  concluded  and  the  time  for  sen- 
tence had  come,  when  the  prisoner  was  asked  if  he  had  any- 
thing to  say  why  sentence  should  not  be  passed  upon  him.  He 
rose  tremblingly,  took  hold  of  the  chair  in  front  of  him,  and 
with  tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks,  he  said,  "Why,  judge, 
don't  you  know  who  I  am?  I  am  the  man  you  saved  the  other 
day  in  the  runaway.  Have  mercy  on  me.  You  were  merciful 
to  me  then,  pity  me  now."  The  judge  was  much  moved;  he 
was  still  for  a  moment,  then  he  said,  "I  did  recognize  you,  and 
I  am  sorry  for  you,  but  you  must  remember  that  then  I  was 
your  savior,  but  today  I  am  your  judge."  What  a  change  it 
was ;  but  O  men  and  women,  if  you  are  not  saved,  the  time  is 
coming  when  just  that  change  in  Christ  shall  take  place  for 
you. 

Opportunity. 

I  have  in  mind  two  towns  situated  along  the  Mississippi 
river,  one  in  Illinois,  the  other  on  the  Iowa  side.  In  pioneer 
days,  one  of  the  towns  was  a  busy,  thriving  frontier  metrop- 
olis; a  village,  of  course,  but  important  for  those  times.  A 
well-patronized  stage-line  ran  through  it;  it  was  a  central 
market  for  grain  and  produce  and  quite  a  shipping-point  for 
cargoes  that  were  rafted  down  the  river;  and  it  supplied  the 
country  for  miles  around  with  groceries  and  dry-goods.  The 
other  town  was  scarcely  a  town  at  all,  only  a  few  straggling 
loghouses  with  the  proverbial  blacksmith  shop.  By  and  by 
the  news  spread  that  a  railroad  was  to  run  that  way.  Well,  in 
the  minds  of  the  citizens  of  the  first  town  there  was  only  one 
possible  place  to  cross  the  river,  and  that  was  where  they  were. 


472  THE   PASTOR  HIS  OWN  EVANGELIST 

And  so  they  made  no  effort  to  secure  the  railroad.  They 
folded  their  municipal  arms^in  utter  indifference.  And  so  sure 
were  they  that  the  line  would  run  through  their  commanding 
town  that  they  offered  no  inducements  or  concessions  what- 
ever. The  other  little  handful  of  homeseekers  realized  that  if 
their  prospective  town  was  ever  going  to  amount  to  anything 
they  must  have  the  railroad,  and  that  if  they  got  the  railroad 
they  would  have  to  "hustle/'  to  use  a  western  phrase.  And  so 
they  hustled.  As  a  result,  the  first  town  did  not  get  the  rail- 
road and  Oquawka  now  is  just  a  lazy,  sleepy,  little  fisherman's 
town,  while  Burlington  is  a  growing  city. 

It  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  men  individ- 
ually and  collectively  are  oftentimes  blind  to  their  best  inter- 
ests and  stupidity  sin  away  their  days  of  grace. — Homiletic  Re- 
view. 

Too  Late. 
About  sundown  one  evening  a  man  was  carried  over  the 
falls.  Who  he  was  is  not  known.  His  dress  and  appearance 
indicated  respectabilit}*,  and  after  he  got  into  the  rapids  his 
self-possession  was  extraordinary.  His  boat  was  a  verj"  good 
one,  decked  over  the  bow,  and  I  should  think  would  carry 
three  or  four  tons.  No  other  than  a  person  unacquainted  with 
the  current  above  the  rapids  would  venture  so  near  them.  I 
was  on  the  head  of  Goat  Island  when  I  first  discovered  the 
boat,  then  nearly  half  a  mile  below  the  foot  of  Navy  Island, 
and  nearly  two  miles  above  the  falls.  There  seemed  to  be 
two  in  the  boat.  It  was  directed  toward  the  American  shore 
— the  wind  blowing  from  the  shore,  and  the  sail  was  still 
standing.  Being  well  acquainted  with  the  river,  I  regarded 
the  position  of  the  boat  as  extraordinary  and  hazardous,  and 
watched  it  with  intense  anxiety.  Soon  I  discovered  the  motion 
of  an  oar,  and,  from  the  changing  direction  of  the  boat,  con- 
cluded it  had  but  one.  While  constantly  approaching  nearer 
and  nearer  the  rapids  I  could  discover  it  was  gaining  the  Amer- 
ican shore,  and  by  the  time  it  had  got  near  the  first  fall  in  the 
rapids,  half  a  mile  above  Goat  Island,  it  was  directly  above 
the  island.  There  it  was  turned  up  the  river,  and  for  some 
time    the    wind   kept    it   nearly    stationary.      The    only    hope 


THE  FRUITS   OF   INDECISION  473 

seemed  to  be  to  come  directly  to  Goat  Island,  and  whether  I 
should  run  half  a  mile  to  give  the  alarm  or  remain  to  assist  in 
case  the  boat  attempted  to  make  the  island,  was  a  question  of 
painful  doubt.  But  soon  the  boat  was  again  turned  toward 
the  American  shore.  Then  it  was  certain  that  it  must  go 
down  the  American  rapids.  I  ran  for  the  bridge,  rallied  a  man 
at  the  toll-gate,  and  we  ran  to  the  main  bridge  in  time  to  see 
the  boat  just  before  it  got  to  the  first  large  fall  in  the  rapids. 
Then  I  saw  but  one  man — he  standing  at  the  stern  with  his 
oar  changing  the  course  of  the  boat  down  the  current,  and  as 
it  plunged  over  he  sat  down.  I  was  astonished  to  see  the 
boat  rise,  with  the  mast  and  sail,  standing,  and  the  man  again 
erect  directing  the  boat  toward  the  shore.  As  he  came  to  the 
next  and  to  each  succeeding  fall  he  sat  down,  and  then  would 
rise  and  apply  his  oar  in  the  intermediate  current.  Still  there 
was  hope  that  he  would  come  near  enough  to.  the  pier  to  jump, 
but  in  a  moment  it  was  gone.  Another,  that  he  might  jump 
upon  the  rock  near  the  bridge,  but  the  current  dashed  him  from 
it  under  the  bridge,  breaking  the  mast.  Again  he  rose  on  the 
opposite  side.  Taking  his  oar,  and  pointing  his  boat  toward 
the  main  shore,  he  cried,  "Had  I  better  jump  from  the  boat?" 
We  could  not  answer,  for  either  seemed  certain  destruction. 
Within  a  few  rods  of  the  falls  the  boat  struck  a  rock,  turned 
over  and  lodged.  He  appeared  to  crawl  from  under  it,  and 
swam  with  the  oar  in  his  hand  until  he  went  over  the  preci- 
pice. Without  the  power  to  render  assistance — for  half  an 
hour  watching  a  strong  man  struggling  with  every  nerve  for 
life,  yet  doomed  with  almost  the  certainty  of  destiny  to  an 
immediate  and  awful  death,  still  hoping  with  every  effort  for 
his  deliverance — caused  an  intensity  of  excitement  I  pray  God 
never  again  to  experience. — Buffalo  Advertiser. 

Costly  Delay. 
After  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville  General  Hooker,  instead 
of  quickly  following  up  his  victory  with  another  attack, 
delayed  it  for  a  day.  The  golden  moment  was  thus  lost,  and 
it  never  afterwards  appeared  again  to  the  same  extent.  Sol 
diers'  legs  have  as  much  to  do  with  winning  great  victories  as 
their  arms. 


474  THE   PASTOR   HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

Knowledge   Without   Action. 

A  German  editor  named  Dr.  Hoeber  wrote  a  full  description 
of  the  dangers  of  Alpine  climbing,  and  all  about  how  to  avoid 
accidents;  and  then,  going  there  recently  on  his  vacation,  and 
attempting  to  scale  the  Matterhorn,  lost  his  life  through  a  fall. 

Paul  gave  all  diligence  to  make  his  calling  and  election  sure, 
but  at  the  same  time  expressing  the  fear — "lest  when  I  have 
preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a  castaway," 

The  Invisible  Deadline. 

There  is  a  time  we  know  not  when, 

A  point  we  know  not  where. 
That  marks  the  destiny  of  men 

To  glory  or  despair. 
There  is  a  line  by  us  unseen 

That  crosses  every  path, 
The  hidden  boundary  between 

God's  patience  and  his  wrath. 

To  pass  that  limit  is  to  die, 

To  die  as  if  by  stealth. 
It  does  not  quench  the  beaming  eye,      i 

Or  pale  the  glow  of  health. 
The  conscience  may  be  still  at  ease, 

The  spirits  light  and  gay, 
That  which  is  pleasing  still  may  please 
!  And  care  be  thrown  away. 

But  on  the  forehead  God  has  set 

Indelibly  a  mark 
Unseen  by  men;  for  men  as  yet 

Are  blind  and  in  the  dark. 
Oh!  where  is  this  mysterious  bourne 

By  which  our  path  is  crossed? 
Beyond  which  God  himself  hath  sworn 

That  he  who  goes  is  lost. 


THE   FRUITS    OF   INDECISION  475 

How  far  may  we  go  on  in  sin? 

How  long  will  God  forbear? 
Where  does  hope  end  and  where  begin 

The  confines  of  despair? 
An  answer  from  the  skies  is  sent 

— Ye  that  from  God  depart 
While  it  is  said  "Today — repent 

And  harden  not  your  heart," 

"What  is  the  Next  Station?" 

This  was  the  question  I  asked  of  the  station-master,  as  I 
sat  waiting  for  the  train.  I  had  gone  some  miles  into  the 
country  to  visit  an  aged  lady,  who  was  very  sick,  and  whose 
house  was  near  the  railway-station;  and  having  finished  my 
call,  I  was  sitting  in  the  waiting-room  until  the  returning  train 
should  arrive. 

I  found  myself  alone  with  the  depot-master,  an  aged  man 
with  white  hair,  and  a  face  which  told  of  care  and  the  stern 
usage  of  time  and  hard  work. 

"What  is  the  next  station?"  I  inquired,  being  unacquainted 
with  the  road,  which  was  a  branch  line  running  into  the 
country. 

"The  next  station  is  the  last,"  he  answered.  "It  is  the  ter- 
minus of  the  line.  You  passed  a  good  many  stopping  places 
coming  out,  sir;  but  there  is  only  one  more  as  you  go  on." 

There  was  a  pause  for  a  moment  in  the  conversation;  then, 
evidently  understanding  my  errand,  he  asked: 

"How  is  the  old  lady,  sir?" 

"She  is  fast  nearing  the  last  station,"  I  replied.  "She  is  very 
sick;  and  besides,  she  is  seventy  years  old,  and  has  reached 
the  terminus  of  life  as  laid  down  in  the  Book;  for  you  know 
the  Bible  says  that  'the  days  of  our  years  are  three  score 
j'ears  and  ten,' — seventy  years,  that  is,  "seven  stations." 

There  was  quite  a  pause  in  the  conversation  again,  during 
which  the  old  man  seemed  to  be  thinking.    Then  he  said: 

"According  to  that,  I  suppose  I  may  be  pretty  near  the  end 
of  my  route,  since  I  am  just  turning  seventy.  Well,  I  am  not 
sorry.  I  have  worked  hard  and  seen  a  good  deal  of  trouble, 
and  I  shall  not  feel  badly  to  get  through." 


476  THE   PASTOR  HIS   OWN   EVANGELIST 

"What  is  the  next  station?"  I  asked  abruptly.  "You  say 
you  are  fast  nearing  the  end  of  your  journey  of  life,  and  that 
you  have  passed  seven  stations  already.  What  is  the  next 
station?" 

"Ah,  nobody  knows  about  that!"  he  answered.  "We  know 
about  the  past,  but  what  is  going  to  be  hereafter  no  one  can 
tell.  I  only  hope  that  I  shall  be  better  off  in  the  next  world 
than  I  have  been  in  this ;  but  I  cannot  say  certainly,  for  no 
one  has  ever  come  back  from  that  world  to  tell  us  anything 
about  it." 

"Ah,  but  you  are  mistaken  there!"  I  interrupted.  "There  is 
One  who  has  come  back,  and  told  us  about  the  future  life.  Do 
you  not  know  that  Jesus  Christ  rose  again  from  the  dead,  'and 
hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gos- 
pel ?"_L^a/?^/. 

Be  In  Earnest. 

There  appeared  at  the  door  of  our  mission  house  in  Unalas- 
ka,  Alaska,  an  Eskimo  boy,  who  had  come  a  thousand  miles, 
working  his  way  as  he  could,  because  he  had  heard  through 
some  traders  that  at  the  mission  house  was  a  man  who  could 
tell  him  of  the  great  King  whom  he  should  worship.  The 
missionary,  to  test  him,  asked,  "Would  you  like  to  study 
books?"  "Study  books  little;  study  about  great  King  very 
much,"  answered  the  boy.  That  earnest  seeker  was  given  the 
knowledge  for  which  he  hungered,  and  will  become  an  enlight- 
ener  to  his  own  people. — Sunday  School  Journal. 

Fatal  Indecision. 

A  youth  who  gave  promise  of  unusual  ability  was  offered  a 
fine  opportunity  to  go  to  college,  then  to  a  professional  school, 
if  he  wished.  "Oh,  I  don't  know!"  was  his  answer;  and  again, 
"What's  the  use?  I'm  pretty  well  off  now."  Then  the  time 
within  which  he  might  decide  in  the  affirmative  flew  by,  and  he 
went  through  life  with  undeveloped  powers  and  crippled  abil- 
ity. Did  he  not  really  choose  the  lower  life  in  not  definitely 
choosing  the  higher? 

The  captain  of  a  ship  knew  that  his  vessel  was  not  in  per- 
fect condition  to  meet  emergencies.  He  repeatedly  put  oflf 
going  about   making  improvement,   meaning   to   do   it   "some- 


THE   FRUITS   OF   INDECISION  477 

time."  Then  came  a  terrible  accident  and  great  loss  of  life.  Is 
it  too  much  to  accuse  that  captain  of  having  chosen  to  cause 
the  death  of  many  human  beings?  The  jury  before  whom  he 
was  tried  did  not  think  it  too  much.  Of  old  one  neglected  to 
see  that  his  life-house  was  built  on  a  rock,  and  in  due  time  his 
house  fell.  Did  he  choose  the  disaster? — Nezv  Century. 

Perilous  Procrastination. 
And  of  another,  we  are  told,  who  in  the  full  vigor  of  youth 
and  health  was  trusting  to  the  thought  that  there  was  "time 
enough,"  when  he  was  dashed  from  a  flying  vehicle  and  borne 
insensible  to  the  nearest  dwelling.  A  physician  was  sent  for 
in  haste,  and  as  the  wounded  youth  came  to  himself  his  first 
question  was,  "Must  I  die?  Must  I  die?"  His  firm  and  yet 
quivering  tone,  his  earnest  and  almost  desperate  look  demand- 
ed an  honest  answer,  and  it  was  given.  He  was  told  that  he 
could  not  live  more  than  a  single  hour.  Rousing  up  at  once 
to  a  full  sense  of  the  awful  reality,  he  cried  out  in  deep  and 
fearful  anguish,  "God  knows  I  have  made  no  preparation  for 
this.  I  have  trusted  to  the  future.  I  never  dreamed  of  dying 
so.  What  shall  I  do — what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  He  was 
told  that  he  must  repent  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
"But  how  shall  I  repent,  and  how  shall  I  believe?"  he  again 
cries  out,  almost  in  distraction.  But  there  is  no  time  for 
explanation.  Death  will  not  wait  for  it.  The  work  must  be 
done — the  whole  work  of  life  done — crowded  into  one  short 
hour,  and  that  an  hour  of  intense  bodily  suflfering  and  mental 
anguish  and  distraction.  Parents  were  weeping  over  him. 
Friends  were  hurrying  to  and  fro  in  all  the  agony  of  grief. 
And  there  the  poor  sufferer,  his  eye  gleaming  with  despera- 
tion, and  with  an  agony  of  earnestness  continues  the  cry, 
"What  shall  I  do?"  till  in  one  short  hour  his  voice  is  hushed  in 
death  and  his  soul  has  passed  to  eternity. — Homiletic  Review. 


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